MWO2: Fairy Masquerade
by Count Morningstar
Summary: Sequel to Monster World Online. The nightmare of the MWO incident repeats itself when Sugu becomes trapped in the game of ALO. To save her, Kirito must enter the game with Asuna and Yugi and rescue Leafa from the clutches of the evil Goblin King, Bakura.
1. Prologue

**Introduction:** I didn't think that I would be doing this story so soon. After I had wrapped up _Monster World Online_ and _The Fairy Cage_, I had decided to take a little break from this series. There were a few things about the future stories that I needed to rethink a little, and I've found that if I work on any writing project to too long I get sick of it. But after I had finished my most recent GX story, _Ritual of Doom_ some thing happened that made me unable to write any story at all. The only exception was this one two-shot I did a little over two weeks ago.

Soon after that though, I found out that the Sword Art Online anime was streaming on Netflix. So I went ahead and watched it again. And as I watched it, I got the inspiration to start up this story. Thus begins this AU's version of the Fairy Dance arc from SAO.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Prologue

It was a calm sunny afternoon as Kazuto Kirigaya, or Kirito as he had become known to some of his friends, arrived at a bus station in Domino City with his girlfriend, Asuna Yuuki. The couple had come to the city at the request of their old friend from the death game of Monster World Online, Yugi Muto. Yugi had told the couple that there was something important that he wanted to show them at the Domino City Museum. Though he wouldn't say what it was over the phone. So Kirito and Asuna came to the city as requested to find out what was going on.

"It looks like we got here a little early." Asuna observed as she and Kirito waited on the bench.

"Yeah, but just by five minutes." Kirito replied as he took a look at his watch. "I don't think we'll be waiting long."

"You wanna go somewhere after we're through with whatever Yugi wants to show us?" Asuna asked. "I heard there are some pretty good places to eat around here."

"Sounds good." Kirito agreed. "You know, it's been awhile since we've just hung out like this."

"I know." Asuna replied as she placed her hand on Kirito's. "And this time we don't have to worry about fighting monsters or clearing dungeons. We can just be together like a normal couple."

"Yeah. It's pretty nice." Kirito agreed as he began to relax a little.

"Well, this certainly is a pleasant surprise." A horribly familiar voice spoke, causing Kirito and Asuna to both go pale. "I never expected to run into the two of you here."

Kirito and Asuna quickly looked and rose to their feet. Standing to their left was a young man with long white hair wearing a blue jacket with a blue and white striped shirt and a pair of faded jeans. Hanging from his neck by a leather string was an odd gold ring-shaped pendant with a triangular panel that had an eye in the center and five ornaments hanging from the lower half. His eyes were like those of a demon or a killer and he had a wicked grin on his face. Kirito and Asuna quickly recognized this person as the one who ran MWO, Bakura.

"What the hell do you want now, you bastard?" Kirito demanded to know.

"Really, Kirito. I'd think you and I would be on better terms after the way I saved Asuna from that fool, Sugou a few days ago." Bakura calmly reminded him. "If I hadn't intervened, Asuna would still be his plaything."

"Yeah, well I know that you didn't do that for her or me." Kirito pointed out. "I know you're playing some kind of twisted game with us, and I've had enough! Now get lost!"

At this, Bakura chuckled. "Or what? You'll beat me? Remember, Kirito we're no longer player Monster World Online. You're powerless in this world, while I possess power beyond your comprehension. So do you still wish to pick a fight with me, mortal?"

"If you want a fight, Bakura I'll be more than happy to take you on!" a deep commanding voice interrupted.

Kirito and the others looked to see the arrival of a young man with odd mainly black star-shaped hair with blonde locks hanging down around his face. He had on a sleeveless black shirt with long black pants. Hanging from his neck by a silver chain was a gold pendant in the shape of an inverted pyramid with an eye-like symbol on the front. Kirito and the others instantly recognized this young man as Yugi.

"Ah, Yugi." Bakura greeted as Yugi approached. "I should've known you'd be coming here. The three of us were just having a friendly little chat."

"I heard most of this little chat of yours." Yugi responded as he got between Kirito and Bakura. "I already know all about how you rescued Asuna from Sugou Nobuyuki a few days ago when he tried to trap her in an online game of his own. And I'm sure you only did to further whatever twisted agenda you have. So why not just tell us what it is you're after?"

"…Very well. I might as well tell you why I saved Asuna." Bakura finally agreed. "Do you all remember the little vision we all had the time you saved that annoying little program, Yui?"

Kirito remembered the vision Bakura was talking about quite well. When he attempted to save an AI in the form of a young girl called Yui from being deleted, Yugi had used the power of his Millennium Puzzle to interfere with Bakura and buy some time. The resulting clash between the power of the Millennium Puzzle and the Millennium Ring resulted in the four of them witnessing a strange vision, one that seemed to show Yugi and an Egyptian Pharaoh and Kirito and Asuna as his guards.

"It seems that the four of us go back a long way." Bakura continued. "Kirito and Asuna are somehow connected to history of the Millennium Items. Which means they may hold part of the key to unlock the items' true power. So until I know for sure, I can't let anything sever happen to either of those two. That is why I saved Asuna from the fate of becoming a living doll, and why I let those two live after their characters were killed during our last encounter."

"Well whatever you're planning, I'm not going to let you get away with it!" Yugi declared.

"We'll see about that." Bakura responded. "The next stage of our game is about to begin, Yugi. So you'd better be ready."

With that, Bakura began to leave as he chuckled evilly to himself. Kirito breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he was out of sight.

"What the hell were you thinking, picking a fight with that psycho?" Asuna asked Kirito.

"I… I guess I wasn't." Kirito admitted. "Sorry."

"Idiot." Asuna responded.

"Kirito, the spirit of Bakura's Millennium Ring is a very dangerous individual." Yugi reminded him. "Confronting him like that could've been fatal."

"Yeah, I know. I just lost my cool for a minute there." Kirito replied. "But one thing's for sure. That's bastard's up to something."

"Yes, and I'm sure it won't be long before we find out what it is." Yugi agreed.

* * *

**Author's Note:** In case anyone missed it, I did a little one-shot after I did _Monster World Online_ called _The Fairy Cage_. It was sort of a bonus story meant to be the bridge between _MWO_ and this story. Due to certain scenes in that one-shot I had to give it an M rating. So it's understandable if not everyone has read it. But the events in that one-shot were referenced in this prologue, and will be touched upon again later in the story.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Captured Fairy

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 1: Captured Fairy

It had been a short walk from the bus station in Domino City to the museum, one that had been filled with very little conversation. Neither Kirito nor Asuna had felt very talkative after their little run-in with Bakura a few minutes before. Yugi had not been very talkative either. Though that seemed to be due to something that seemed to be very heavy on his mind. Both Kirito and Asuna noted how serious Yugi seemed ever since they met up with him. Upon arriving at the front of the museum, Kirito and Asuna noticed a banner over the door advertising a big exhibit of artifacts from Egypt.

"I'd like to thank you both for agreeing to come here today." Yugi told Kirito and Asuna as they headed into the building. "I hope I haven't ruined any plans the two of you might've had for today."

"It's no problem." Kirito assured him. "So what's thing you want to show us?"

"It's a stone tablet that's on display here." Yugi explained. "You'll understand why I want the two of you to show it to you when you see it. But I will say right now that only Anzu and myself have seen this tablet. Not even my partner knows about it."

"Wait, you mean the regular Yugi doesn't know?" a somewhat surprised Kirito asked.

"That's right." Yugi confirmed.

Both Kirito and Asuna looked at one another for a moment upon hearing this news. It was odd enough that Yugi had two distinct personas, the heroic one they were currently speaking to and the kinder and more child-like persona that was apparently Yugi's regular self. But it was simply surprising that the more heroic Yugi would keep secrets from the other since the two personalities were such good friends.

"So… how come the regular Yugi doesn't know about this?" Asuna asked.

"He's not ready to know about it yet." Yugi explained. "In time he will know the truth. But I feel the two of you have a right to know about this now. Especially after our little encounter with Bakura."

Kirito and Asuna continued to follow Yugi down a short flight of stairs that led to another room in the museum. What they saw on the far wall of the room when they entered surprised them both greatly. It was a large stone tablet that had a symbol that looked like the Millennium Puzzle engraved at the top, surrounded by three carvings that looked like monsters of some kind. But it was the large image carved into the center of the tablet that surprised the couple. The tablet depicted two figures facing one another in what looked like some kind of ritual, and one of the figures looked exactly like Yugi. Hovering above the figure was some kind of spirit that looked like a wizard with a curved conical hat.

"What the heck is this?" a stunned Kirito asked.

"This tablet depicts an ancient battle between an ancient pharaoh and a high priest." Yugi explained. "For some reason the pharaoh's name has been lost to history."

Asuna took a good look at the priest who was fighting the pharaoh in this mystical battle. Hovering above the priest in the carving was a creature that looked like a dragon. After a moment, Asuna recognized the priest.

"Maybe I'm crazy, but… that priest looks like Kaiba!" Asuna identified.

"It is Kaiba. I'm positive of that." Yugi spoke as he clutched his Millennium Puzzle. "And this nameless pharaoh from 5,000 years ago… is me."

"Asuna and I both knew that you're actually some kind of spirit that lives inside that pendant you always wear." Kirito responded. "But I guess I never expected you to be the ghost of some dead king."

"Is it that hard for you to believe?" Yugi asked with a small smirk.

"No… not at all." Kirito answered.

"So… you're an ancient pharaoh." Asuna spoke. "But what happens now? Sure you know something about your past, but what is it that you're supposed to do?"

"There are still many things about my ancient past that I don't know about." Yugi answered. "But the key to unlocking those secrets may lie in the tournament Kaiba is about to hold."

"You mean that Battle City Tournament?" Asuna asked.

"How is a collectable card game tournament supposed to help unlock your ancient memories?" Kirito asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know." Yugi answered. "But I must answer in order to find out, and to settle things with Kaiba. As you can both see, our rivalry goes back a long way."

"Well then, I guess all Asuna and I can do for you now is wish you luck." Kirito decided.

"Thank you." Yugi replied. "I may need all the luck I can get right now."

* * *

It was late in the afternoon as Yugi entered his room. Kirito and Asuna had since gone off to have a little date in the city. Yugi walked over to his bed and pulled out a box from underneath it. Inside it was his NerveGear helmet, the same helmet that had trapped him within MWO for over two years.

As Yugi pulled the helmet out of the box, the spirit of his regular persona appeared next to him. "Other Me. Did everything go well with Kirito and Asuna today?"

"Besides a small encounter with the spirit of Bakura's Millennium Ring, it did." The Pharaoh confirmed.

"Seems like the other Bakura might be up to something again." Regular Yugi observed. "So are we logging back into ALO?"

"We did tell Leafa that we'd meet with her this afternoon." Yugi reminded his partner.

"I still think we should tell Jounouchi and the others about how we've been playing this game." Regular Yugi told him.

"I know how you feel, Partner. But for now it's probably best to keep this hidden from them." Yugi replied. "If I'm right, the spirit of Bakura's ring may be using the game of ALfhiem Online for his own twisted ends."

"That's true. ALfhiem Online is the same game that guy, Sugou tried to trap Asuna in a few days ago." Regular Yugi recalled. "If the other Bakura was able to get in there and save Asuna, who knows what he's capable of in that game?"

"Until we know for sure what's going on, we can't afford to put our friends in unnecessary danger." Yugi pointed out.

"I guess you're right." Regular Yugi agreed. "Well, we shouldn't keep Leafa waiting."

With that, Yugi got onto his bed and place the NerveGear helmet on his head. "Link start!"

With moments, Yugi's mind flew through a tunnel of multicolored light. After passing through the tunnel he found himself standing in the room at an inn his game avatar had been staying in for the night. He had returned to the Land of the Fairies. As he started to walk out of the room, Yugi caught his reflection in the full-length mirror against the wall. He had been playing the game of ALO for only a few days and he was still getting a little used to his avatar. He had long pointed ears, just like every other player in the game. His outfit consisted of a long-sleeved green shirt with gold armor covering his chest and long black pants with brown leather boots. On his hands he wore brown fingerless gloves, and covering his forehead was a golden crown that for some reason had the same symbol as the Millennium Puzzle. The Millennium Puzzle hung from his neck, along with a medallion that had a purple gemstone on the front.

Yugi exited the room and headed out of the inn. Outside on the street he waited in front of the building. All around him were players from each of the different fairy races socializing with one another.

"Yugi!" a female voice called, causing him to turn.

Coming towards him was a young woman with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail by a white ribbon resembling a flower. She had green eyes and long pointed ears. Her outfit consisted of a sort of green dress with a long skirt that was open a bit in the front and a white low-cut undershirt that showed off her large bust.

"Hello, Leafa." Yugi greeted as the young woman approached.

"You're late." Leafa replied. "What kept you?"

"Sorry. I had something I needed to take care of in the real world and it took a little longer than expected." Yugi explained.

"Well, no big deal." Leafa replied. "So what would you like to do today? I heard about this cave nearby that we could try and raid. They say there's a rare item located at the center."

Yugi glanced towards the distance and noticed the gigantic tree far away that grew so large that seemed to break through the clouds. But the clouds that were around the top of that tree were black storm clouds.

"Something wrong?" Leafa asked, noticing how serious Yugi's expression had become.

"That storm around the World Tree seems to have gotten larger." Yugi observed.

"I know. It seems to get bigger every day." Leafa agreed. "I actually overheard a couple of players in town talking about it a few minutes ago. There's some kind of story going around about the reason for the storm."

"What story is that?" Yugi asked.

"Well it's only a rumor, but the story is that the Fairy King, Oberon was assassinated by the king of the goblins." Leafa explained. "And now the Goblin King has taken over the tree and is slowly trying to take over the whole land."

Yugi became greatly troubled upon hearing this story about the Goblin King. He remembered the story Asuna had told him and his other friends about when she had been captured by Sugou. She had been forced to play the role of the Fairy Queen, while Sugou had taken on the role of Oberon, King of the Fairies. But Bakura had broken into the virtual prison where Asuna was being kept, assuming the role of a character called the Goblin King. After breaking in, Bakura had brutally murdered Sugou and released Asuna. And what unsettled Yugi was that part of the story Leafa had just told him was very similar to the story of Sugou's death.

"I've been playing this game for awhile and have never heard anything about a Goblin King before." Leafa continued. "I wonder if it's part of some kind of new event that the game masters have set up? What do you think, Yugi?"

"Leafa… I'd like to go to the town at the base of the World Tree." Yugi told her.

"Wait, you're not thinking of trying to raid the tree by yourself, are you?" a concerned Leafa asked. "You may be one of the best players I've seen in this game, but you couldn't possibly raid the tree by yourself. We'd need an army to do that."

"I don't intend to raid the tree, only gather information to find out if that story about the Goblin King is true." Yugi explained. "The answer may lie at the town."

"I get it. You think that one of the NPCs there or a player who normally frequents the place might know something." Leafa realized. "Well, nothing wrong with getting a little more information. So I guess we should get going then."

"Actually Leafa, it might be better if I made this journey on my own." Yugi told her.

"Huh? How come?" Leafa asked.

"It's hard for me to explain, but if I'm right this journey might be very dangerous." Yugi explained. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt if anything bad happened."

"Hey, I can take care of myself." Leafa told him. "You know how good I am in a fight."

"It's not that I'm questioning your abilities, it's just… it's hard to explain." Yugi replied.

Leafa smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. "Look, I know you're one of the players from the MWO incident. You told me so when we first met. But dying in here isn't the same thing as dying in that game. So there's no need to be so protective of me all the time, okay? And I'm going with you whether you like it or not."

A half smile came to Yugi's face. "It seems my hands are tied. Very well, we shall go to the World Tree together."

With that, Yugi and Leafa headed to the tall tower in the village and took to the sky on green transparent wings. They flew straight for the tree at top speed, occasionally seeing flashes of lighting in the storm clouds before them.

"It's going to take us a while to reach the tree. And I'm not sure if we can fly through that storm." Leafa told Yugi. "We may have to go most of the way on foot."

"We'll worry about that if the time comes." Yugi replied. "Right now let's just get as far as we can on our wings."

As the two of them continued towards the tree, a small pumpkin covered in green flames flew down and nearly struck Leafa in the face. Leafa and Yugi both stopped in midair and looked up. Hovering above them was a young well-endowed woman standing on the back of a large crow with red demonic eyes. She had long stark-white hair that had long braided pigtails. Her ears were pointed and her eyes were gold and slit-like pupils. The young woman had on a black low-cut sleeveless shirt with dark-silver chest and shoulder armor, along with a very short black skirt and knee-high armored boots. On her arms she wore elbow-high armored gloves with small claws on the ends of the fingers.

"Looks like I've found a couple of sylphs." The young woman observed with a smirk. "Would one of you happen to be called Leafa?"

"I'm Leafa." The blonde fairy answered as her hand went for the handle of the sword hanging from her waist. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The white-haired woman looked at Leafa with a predatory gaze and licked her lips. "You sure are a pretty little thing. Maybe if I'm lucky, the Goblin King will let me have my way with you later."

"Are… are you coming onto me?" a wide-eyed Leafa asked.

"The one good thing about you fairy folk is that your women are all so attractive." The woman replied. "Especially you sylphs. And you're one of the most gorgeous-looking sylphs I've seen yet."

"You still haven't told us who you are." Yugi told her.

"Fair enough." The woman replied. "I am Kyra, a proud warrior of the goblin race. And by order of the Goblin King, I have come to take your dear Leafa back with us to the World Tree. Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

"I don't know who or what you are, but I'm not coming with you!" Leafa told her as she drew her sword.

"I was hoping you'd pick the hard way." Kyra replied with a wide grin.

Leafa flew towards Kyra with her sword raised. But before the blonde fairy could land a blow, Kyra produced a long silver whip that struck Leafa in the chest and took off a good amount from her HP gauge. Yugi attempted to fly in and help, but was hit in the back by a large pumpkin covered in green flames. Yugi turned and saw a large muscular man standing atop the back of a large black hawk with red eyes. He had long white hair tied in a ponytail and a broad chin. The man had on dark-silver chest and shoulder armor over a black short-sleeved shirt, along with a pair of long black pants and a pair of armored boots. In his right hand he carried a large black axe.

"Sorry, sylph. But I'm your opponent for this fight." The man told Yugi.

"So you're another one of these goblins." Yugi observed.

"That's right." The man confirmed. "The name's Garm. And like it or not, your friend's coming with us."

"We'll see about that!" Yugi responded.

Appearing in Yugi's right hand was a golden wand with an emerald gemstone on the end that resembled a flower. Yugi aimed the wand at Garm and began chanting words in a strange language. Golden words written in a strange text surrounded Yugi before a massive bolt of purple lightning shot from the end of his wand. Gram managed to block the bolt with the blade of his axe.

"Not bad, sylph." Garm responded with a cocky grin. "But you fairy folk don't have it as easy as you once did! Take this!"

The beak of Garm's hawk opened and let out an earsplitting screech. Yugi was struck by the sonic attack and lost a good chunk of his HP. With Yugi still disoriented, Garm moved in and slashed Yugi across the chest with his axe. Meanwhile, Leafa chanted a spell that sent several blasts of golden light at Kyra. The female goblin managed to block most of the attacks with her whip.

"You're a tough one, all right." Kyra observed. "But I'm going to wrap up this battle right now."

Kyra raised her left hand towards Leafa and began chanting a spell in a strange language that was different from the one used by Yugi and Leafa. Large words made of black energy and written in an odd language surrounded Kyra for a moment. Soon after, several large pumpkins burning with green flames surrounded Leafa on all sides. The pumpkins quickly began to bombard Leafa rapidly, taking her HP down to a red sliver. Kyra cackled and lashed Leafa one more time with her whip.

Leafa's HP went to zero and her body became nothing more than a green light. Suddenly Kyra produced a silver lantern fashioned to look like a skull. Yugi turned his head just in time to see the burning green light get sucked into the mouth of the lantern.

"We have what we came for, Garm! Now let's get out of here!" Kyra told her fellow goblin.

"Right!" Garm replied. "It's been fun, sylph. Later!"

With that, Garm chanted another odd spell and the entire area became shrouded in a thick black mist. By the time the mist cleared, Kyra and Garm were nowhere to be found. Yugi quickly brought up his menu screen and check his friend list, hoping to find Leafa's location. But his screen showed that she was nowhere to be found. Yugi's heart quickly sunk.

"Other Me, are you okay?" Regular Yugi asked as he appeared.

"Leafa's been captured, and it's my fault." Yugi responded. "I fear Bakura has finally made his move."

* * *

Kirito headed back to his house with Asuna by his side. Despite their earlier encounter with Bakura and learning about Yugi's ancient past, the two of them had managed to have a very pleasant time in Domino City.

"I had a wonderful time with you today." Asuna told Kirito.

"Me too." Kirito replied. "I still can't get over what we found out about Yugi being the ghost of some Egyptian Pharoah."

"I can see it, actually. And I'm not just talking about those weird we had." Asuna told him. "He was always such a good leader in MWO."

"Yeah. I actually gained a lot of respect for Yugi when we worked together to take down that field boss." Kirito recalled.

"I remember that battle. We really didn't get along back then, did we?" Asuna remembered.

"I know. It's amazing how far we've come since then." Kirito replied.

By the time the couple reached Kirito's house, they both quickly noticed that something was amiss. An ambulance was parked out front with Kirito's mother standing near the open rear doors. By the time the two of them got close, two ambulance attendants were hauling a stretcher into the back of the vehicle. On the stretcher was a girl with short black hair that Kirito instantly recognized as his sister, Suguha. Her eyes were covered by some kind of silver visor.

"Mom! What's happened?" a worried Kirito asked as he ran up. "Is Sugu okay?"

"Oh, Kazuto. I don't know how to tell you this, but…" Kirito's mother began with some difficulty. "I think Suguha is trapped in one of those online games."

"How… how is that possible?" a shocked Kirito asked.

"I don't know." Kirito's mother asked on the verge of tears. "All I know is that when I went upstairs to get her for dinner, I saw some kind of flash from behind her door. I went inside and it looked like she was… like she was being electrocuted or something. She had on the latest version of that virtual reality helmet, so…"

"She's really trapped inside a game?" a concerned Asuna asked.

"I honestly don't know." Kirito's mother asked. "I honestly never thought this would happen, not again. I never thought Suguha would even try playing one of those games after the MWO incident."

Kirito stood frozen as he watched the ambulance drive off. His mind was spinning with questions about how this could've happened. It seemed like the nightmare of MWO was happening again. Only this time it was his sister who was trapped.

* * *

Kyra and Garm entered the dim throne room of the Goblin King atop the World Tree. Bakura sat atop the throne wearing a long black coat. On each side of the throne was a large ornate silver torch lit with green flames. The two goblins stopped and kneeled before the throne.

"I trust the two of you have come back with the little item I ordered the two of you to get." Bakura assumed.

"We have, sire." Kyra confirmed as she held up the lantern.

Bakura snapped his fingers, and the burning green light flew from the lantern to hover atop a round silver pedestal next to Bakura's throne. The flame suddenly became bathed in an eerie purple light emanating from the top of the pedestal.

"Good work, both of you." Bakura told him. "I trust you didn't have too much trouble catching her."

"Not at all, sire." Kyra replied.

"If I may ask, sire. Why did you have us capture some sylph girl?" Garm inquired. "What's so special about her anyway?"

"This girl has many purposes, but her biggest purpose right now is to serve as bait." Bakura explained. "Now Yugi, Kirito, and Asuna are sure to come to me."

* * *

**Author's Note:** As romantic as the Fairy Dance arc of SAO was, the biggest problem I had with it was Asuna being reduced to a damsel in distress. So I decided not to go in that direction with this crossover series. The drawback to that move was that with Asuna not playing the role of that captured princess, Kirito didn't have any real motivation to enter ALO and save those other captured players. Then one morning as I was drinking some coffee, it came to me to have Asuna and Leafa switch roles. Of course I realize that there are a few drawbacks to this move too, but it was better than the original and somewhat convoluted idea I had.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. Oberon's Shadow

**Author's Note:** I ended up changing one of the genres of this story from sci-fi to fantasy. I know there's a heavy sci-fi element with the whole virtual reality thing, but with the whole setting of ALO and the involvement of Ancient Egyptian magic I decided that fantasy would be a better fit.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 2: Oberon's Shadow

Rain had begun to pour down outside as Kirito waited in the lobby of the Kaiba Corp building with Asuna. The two of them had gone there in the hopes of finding out what happened to Sugu and how to save her. With the help of her father, Asuna had managed to arrange a meeting with Kaiba. Night was beginning to fall, and it seemed that the building was starting to empty. Asuna and Kirito had been waiting to see Kaiba for almost an hour.

The silence hanging in the room was broken by the sound of the electric doors opening. Kirito and Asuna looked to see three people entering the room. One of them was a young man with slightly long blonde hair named Katsuya Jonouchi, or Joey as Kirito and Asuna knew him in MWO. The second member of the group was a young woman with short brown hair named Anzu Mazaki, and the third was a young man with sculpted brown hair that came to a point towards the front named Hiroto Honda.

"Hey guys." Joey greeted as he approached. "We came here as soon as we could."

"Thanks for coming." Kirito replied before noticing that a member of the group was missing. "Where's Yugi."

"We couldn't get ahold of him." Anzu explained. "I sent him a text, so he should know what's going on."

"So how's your sister doing?" Honda asked Kirito.

"No change since she was brought to the hospital." Kirito answered. "She's in a coma, and the doctors are sure it's because of that next generation NerveGear she had on. They're sure she's trapped in an online game just like we were."

"That's rough, man." Joey replied. "I've got a little sister too, so I kinda know how ya feel."

"Hopefully Kaiba will have some answers to what's going on." Asuna interjected.

"Yeah, well I kinda doubt that jerk will give us any real hope." A skeptical Joey replied.

Before the conversation could continue, the group turned when they heard the elevator doors open. Walking towards them was a man with brown hair wearing a grey suit. Asuna and Kirito quickly recognized this man as Asuna's father, Shouzou Yuuki.

"Oh, Asuna." Shouzou spoke as he walked up. "I didn't expect anyone other than Kazuto to be with you."

"Hi dad." Asuna responded. "These people are some friends of ours from MWO."

"Well it's nice to meet you all." Shouzou replied. "I just wish it could've been under better circumstances. Mr. Kaiba is finally ready to see you now. If you'll all come with me."

With that, Kirito and the others followed Shouzou into the elevator. There was a heavy silence hanging in the elevator as it began to rise.

"I feel I should apologize to you, Kazuto." Shouzou spoke. "If what's happened to your sister is because of Sugou's twisted ambitions, I can't help but feel responsible in a way. It seems I greatly misjudged him."

"Right now I'm just worried about getting Sugu back." Kirito replied.

"Yes, well hopefully Mr. Kaiba will at least be able to give you some answers." Shouzou told him.

After a few more moments, the elevator stopped on one of the top floors. Shouzou guided the group to Kaiba's office. Upon entering, Kirito and Asuna took a seat in the chairs in front of Kaiba's desk while Joey and the others sat down on the couch by the wall.

"Well, I still have some work that I need to get done today." Shouzou informed them. "I'll see you later at home, Asuna." And with that, Shouzou left the room.

"Your dad seemed kind of tired, Asuna." Anzu observed.

"He's been losing a little sleep over this whole thing with Sugou." Asuna explained. "And I don't think Kaiba's been making it any easier on him."

The door to the office opened again. Walking in was a young man with brown hair and piercing blue eyes that Kirito and the others recognized as Seto Kaiba. With him was a boy with long black hair that the group knew as Kaiba's younger brother, Mokuba.

Kaiba sat at his desk and seemed to glare at Kirito and the others. "You're all lucky I was feeling generous enough to let you have this meeting with me."

"I just want to know what's happened to Sugu." Kirito told him. "Has she become trapped like those three hundred players from MWO? The ones that Sugou was using for those experiments of his?"

"I'm surprised you know about that, Kirigaya." Kaiba coldly responded. "I guess you heard about that little mess through Asuna."

"Just answer the question, you jerk!" Joey cut in.

"We don't know for sure what's happened to Ms. Kirigaya, but we think that might be the case." Mokuba answered. "And if that's true, we don't know how to get her out."

"You mean you aren't any closer to freeing those three hundred players yet?" Asuna asked.

"After the truth came out about Sugou Nobuyuki's little experiments with mind control, we thought it'd be easy to get them out." Mokuba explained. "We found codes that Sugou and his people could've used to log those players out, but when we tried to use them they didn't work. It's like someone or something changed the codes on us before we could get the chance, and we haven't had any luck breaking the encryption."

"This whole thing has created one big mess for my company." Kaiba spoke as he rose from his desk. "You'd be surprised about how many people were involved in Nobuyuki's little project."

"He sure had everyone fooled." Mokuba added. "Nobuyuki was even able to convince me and Mr. Yuuki to higher back the Big Five to help run the company while Seto was trapped in MWO. They were involved with Nobuyuki's project too."

"You mean those five executive guys who worked with Pegasus to try and take over your company?" Honda recalled.

"Yeah. It was pretty stupid of me to even trust those guys again." Mokuba admitted.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Mokuba." Kaiba told him. "You were under a lot of stress at the time running the company in my place. Besides, those jackals are no longer a problem."

"Yeah. It's kind of weird though that after the project was exposed, the Big Five killed themselves by using NerveGear helmets to burn out their own brains." Mokuba remarked.

"The important thing is that we've been able to keep this scandal under wraps for the time being." Kaiba told him. "News of something like this could ruin the company."

"I don't give a damn about your company!" Kirito impatiently told him as he rose from his chair. "What the hell do you plan to do about my sister?"

"There might not be anything we can do for her." Kaiba answered. "The truth is that the fact that your sister is now trapped in ALO could indicate a serious problem with the game. I don't know if it's some kind of revenge program set by one of Nobuyuki's followers or what, but it could mean that the same could happen to other players. I may have no choice but to shut down the ALO server."

"But if you did that, what would happen to all those players still trapped in the game?" Anzu asked.

"We… don't know." Mokuba answered. "We have no idea that the death program from MWO is still in place for those players. There's a chance those players will all be fine, but… there's also a good chance that they'll either be killed or suffer brain damage."

"How could even take such a risk?" Asuna demanded to know as she rose to her feet.

"If this game truly has become a hazard to the public, I'll have no choice to shut it down!" Kaiba told them. "Besides, I've grown sick of the shadows of Nobuyuki and the MWO incident hanging over me!"

"You jerk!" Joey cut in. "Who do you think you are throwing away all those lives like that?"

"Okay then. If Sugu really is trapped in this game, than give me a chance to go in there and get her out!" Kirito requested.

"Wait, what?" a surprised Mokuba asked.

"Kazuto!" Asuna responded.

"Let me get this straight. You intend to go in the game and find your sister yourself?" Kaiba asked with a raised eyebrow. "Do you realize how pointless that sounds? For all you know, she's being trapped in an area of the virtual environment that's inaccessible to the normal players. And even if you did somehow get to her, how do you intend to log her out?"

"I'll find a way!" Kirito declared. "All I'm asking for is a chance!"

A small smirk appeared on Kaiba's face. "Alright, Kirigaya. I'll give you four days for this little rescue mission of yours. That's the time left before the start of my Battle City tournament. But after that, I'm pulling the plug."

"Fine." Kirito agreed through gritted teeth.

"If that's all, then get out of my office." Kaiba ordered. "I've wasted enough time with this meeting."

Kirito and the others left the office and went back to the elevator. There was more silence on the way back down to the lobby.

"…You meant it when you said you'd go into that game to find Sugu, didn't you?" Asuna finally asked.

"You know I did." Kirito answered.

"Well then, I guess I'm going with you." Asuna decided.

"We're with you too, Kirito." Joey told him.

"Thanks, but I can't ask any of you guys to do that." Kirito told them.

"You dummy, you can't possible expect to do this on your own." Asuna pointed out. "Besides, I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

"Asuna's right, Kirito." Anzu agreed. "You're going to need all the help you can get."

"Kaiba did have a point though." Honda interjected. "How are we going to get Kirito's sister and all those other players out of there? We don't even know the first thing about this ALO game."

"There's one thing I'm pretty sure of." Kirito spoke. "Whatever happened to trap Sugu in the game, I'm sure that Bakura's behind it."

"You mean the evil Bakura?" Joey asked. "How do you figure that?"

"Think about it. He was able to get into ALO, kill Sugou and the scientists working for him, and log Asuna out of the game." Kirito reminded him. "If he can do all that, who knows what else he's capable of in that game?"

"But how would Bakura even know about your sister playing ALO?" Honda pointed out.

"I don't know, but I'm sure he's behind this." Kirito replied.

Before the conversation could continue, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Kirito and the others saw the regular Yugi waiting for them in the lobby.

"Hi guys. Sorry I couldn't get here until now." Regular Yugi told them as he came up. "Did everything go okay with Kaiba?"

Before anyone could explain the situation, Kirito's cell phone began to ring. He looked at the device's screen and saw it was an unknown caller. For a moment he thought about ignoring the call. Chances were that it was just someone who wanted to try and sell him something over the phone or something equally unimportant.

Rather than hitting ignore though, Kirito answered the phone and put the device to his ear. "Hello?"

_"Hello, Kirito."_ A horribly familiar voice spoke on the other end. _"I know I'm calling at a bad time, but we have a few things to talk about."_

"I knew you had a hand in this, you bastard!" Kirito cursed.

"What's going on?" Honda asked.

"Kazuto, are you talking to who I think you are?" Asuna asked.

_"Was that Honda and Asuna?"_ Bakura asked on the line. _"Mind putting me on speaker? I'm sure they'll want to be a part of this conversation."_

Kirito activated the speaker function of his phone and held it out. "Okay, you're on. Now talk!"

_"I trust that if Honda's with you, I'm sure Yugi and the others are there too."_ Bakura assumed.

"So Bakura really is behind this!" Joey realized.

_"I'm sure you're all wondering about what's happened to Kirito's sister, Sugu."_ Bakura continued. _"Or as Yugi knows her, Leafa."_

At this, Yugi became bathed in a golden light from his puzzle and his heroic persona took over. "What have you done with her, you scum?"

_"Well that certainly got a rise out of you, Yugi."_ An amused Bakura observed. _"I bet you didn't have a clue about Leafa's true identity. It seems you were unable to protect her just as you were unable to protect her brother during our last battle."_

"Wait, you've been playing this game too Yugi?" a surprised Anzu asked.

"What have you done with Sugu?" Kirito demanded to know, ignoring this little revelation.

_"Oh don't worry. She's perfectly safe, for now."_ Bakura assured him. _"But if you want her back, you'll have to come to the World Tree in ALO to get her."_

"I'll be there alright!" Kirito told him. "And when I'm get there, I'm going to take care of you once and for all!"

_"You're welcome to try."_ Bakura responded with a laugh. _"I look forward to your arrival in the game. I think you'll like the little changes I made to ALO after I killed that fool, Oberon. Ta-ta for now."_

With that, the line went dead. The group was completely silent as Kirito put his phone back in his pocket.

"Kirito… I'm sorry about all this." Yugi told him.

"Yugi, I'm going to need your help getting Sugu back." Kirito replied. "It'd help if you could tell me about how Sugu was captured, and anything else you know about this game."

"Very well. I will tell you about what happened to Sugu." Yugi agreed. "And about how I first started playing the game of ALfhiem Online."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the somewhat short chapter. Truth is I didn't really feel like writing a very long chapter today since my day got off to kind of a bad start. Heck, I wasn't even sure if I'd get this chapter done today. Anyway, those of you reading might've noted that the Big Five was mentioned in this chapter. That was kind of a setup for the next big story in this series. But more on that in time.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Flight of the Pharaoh

**Announcement:** Just to give everyone reading a heads-up, I've recently enrolled in an online class that starts this coming Tuesday and I'm not really sure what the workload is going to be like. So updates to this story will most likely slow down a bit, but hopefully not too much. At the very least, I should be able to do one or two chapters a week, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, I should be able to get the next chapter done tomorrow. What with it being Memorial Day tomorrow.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 3: Flight of the Pharaoh

The rain had finally stopped by the time Kirito and the others arrived at Yugi's house. There had been very little conversation during the trip over. As soon as they got there, the rest of the group followed the Nameless Pharaoh up to Yugi's room. Once inside, they sat down on the floor in a circle. All eyes were on Yugi as they waited for him to speak.

"I'd like to start by apologizing for keeping this secret from you." Yugi began. "I had intended to tell you all about ALO in time. But right after I had started playing the game I learned about the incident with Asuna. I realized that Bakura might try to use the game for his own twisted plans and didn't want to put any of you at risk."

"So you figured out that Bakura was up to something from the start." Krito observed.

"Yes. But I had no idea that your sister was actually playing the game or that Bakura would come after her." Yugi replied.

"How'd you even find out about this game?" Joey asked.

"Believe it or not, I found out from Kirito's sister." Yugi answered.

"From Sugu?" Kirito responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, it was the morning after Asuna's escape from Sugou Nobuyuki." Yugi explained. "You had called my partner on the phone the night before to tell us something might have happened to Asuna. So we decided to come by your house that morning to see if everything was okay."

"You came to Kirito's house?" a somewhat surprised Asuna asked. "Why didn't you stick around?"

"It sounded like the two of you were… occupied." Yugi answered as he cleared his throat.

Kirito and Asuna's faces both turned bright red when they realized what Yugi was talking about. The two of them had gotten quite intimate with one another that morning, and from what Yugi had just told them it seemed that Kirito's room was not soundproof.

"Just what the heck were you two doing?" an apparently clueless Honda asked.

"None of your damn business!" a flustered Asuna told him.

"Yeah." An embarrassed Kirito added. "Go on, Yugi."

"Yes, well… your sister took me to a small restaurant near your place so we could have breakfast in peace." Yugi continued. "That was when I first learned about the game of ALO…"

* * *

_Yugi and Sugu sat facing each other across a small booth by the restaurant window. As they waited for the waitress to bring them their food, Yugi noticed that Sugu seemed anxious about something._

_"Are you okay, Suguha?" Yugi asked, getting her attention. "You seem nervous."_

_"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Really." Sugu insisted. "And please, call me Sugu."_

_"Very well." Yugi replied. With that, the waitress finally arrived with their order._

_"So… I guess you and my brother got to know each other pretty well in that game." Sugu assumed._

_"He became part of my guild during the later part of the game." Yugi answered. "I don't think we could've won without his help and Asuna's."_

_"Asuna… that's his girlfriend from the game, right?" Sugu asked with a look of sadness. "I guess they're pretty close too, huh?"_

_"Are you sure you're okay?" a concerned Yugi asked._

_"I'm fine, really." Sugu answered with a fake smile. "I'm just happy that my brother's finally found someone."_

_"I see…" Yugi replied as he took a sip from his cup. He decided that a change of subject was in order. "So Sugu, are you interested in online games like your brother."_

_"To tell you the truth, I can't stand them." Sugu answered. "Especially after the MWO incident. Those games are the reason why Kazuto and I have grown apart._

_"What do you mean?" Yugi asked._

_"The truth is… Kazuto isn't really my brother. He's my cousin." Sugu revealed. "His parents died in a car accident when he was real young. My mom took him in and raised us together as brother and sister. A few years ago, Kazuto found out about it. After that, he just threw himself into those games. It's like he didn't want anything to do with me."_

_"I'm sure he was only trying to deal with what he found out about himself." Yugi assumed. "Games can be quite helpful with that at times."_

_"Yeah, maybe." Sugu responded. "Boy, I'm surprised I told you about something like that. I mean we've only just met and I hardly know you. I guess you're pretty easy to talk to."_

_"I feel the same way about you." Yugi replied. "I'm glad I've had this chance to meet you, Sugu."_

_Sugu blushed a bit at the Pharaoh's comment. "So, are you into online games like my brother?"_

_"I enjoy all kinds of games." Yugi answered. "My grandfather runs a game store out of my house. Maybe you could come over sometime."_

_"You… you mean go to your house?" Sugu asked as her face turned a brighter shade of red. "Well… sure. I'd be happy to come visit. So anyway, I guess you're not into virtual online games after the MWO incident."_

_"I don't know. I guess I wouldn't mind giving another game like that a try." Yugi admitted._

_"Really?" Sugu responded. "Well this one person I know at school did tell me about this other virtual game released by the Kaiba Corporation. It's called ALfhiem Online."_

_"ALfhiem?" Yugi repeated._

_"It means Land of the Fairies." Sugu explained. "From what I've been told, it's actually pretty popular despite the MWO incident."_

_"Did your friend say anything about what this game is like?" Yugi asked._

_"Well from what he told me, the game gives the player the ability to fly." Sugu answered. "It actually sounds pretty cool."_

_"Yes, it does." Yugi agreed._

_"Well, we should probably start eating before our food gets cold." Sugu decided._

_"Yes, of course." Yugi agreed._

* * *

"…After that, Sugu went back your place." Yugi continued in the present. "During that whole conversation I had no idea that she had actually been playing the very game she told me about."

"That's no surprise." Kirito replied. "A lot of people usually keep their identities in an online game a secret. But what I can't figure out is why Sugu would even have started playing the game in the first place."

"Yugi, what happened after you met with Sugu that morning?" Asuna asked.

"My partner and I were quite curious about ALfhiem Online." Yugi answered. "So we went to go see an old friend to find out more…"

* * *

_On his way back home, Regular Yugi passed the game shop that was his home towards another game shop across the street. This shop was actually a three-story building known as the Black Crown game store. Hanging over the front door was the large face of a clown that served as the store's mascot. The person who ran this store was an old friend of Yugi's, Ryuji Otogi. And Yugi hoped that if anyone knew about the game of ALO, it would be Ryuji._

_Upon entering the large shop, Regular Yugi spotted a familiar young man behind the front counter with long black hair tied in a ponytail. He had a thick red headband covering his forehead, and hanging from one of his ears was an earing in the form of a six-sided die._

_"Hey Ryuji." Regular Yugi called as he entered, getting the young man's attention._

_"Oh, hi Yugi." Ryuji greeted as Yugi walked up. "Nice of you to drop by. Business has been a little slow today."_

_"Yeah, looks like it." Regular Yugi observed as he looked and noticed how empty the shop was. "Anyway, the reason I dropped by is because I wanted to ask you something. Do you know anything about a VRMMO called ALfheim Online?"_

_"You mean ALO?" Ryuji replied. "Of course I do. It's one of the biggest online games out there. I've sold more than a few copies. Heck, I've even been playing it a little myself."_

_"Wow. Sounds like a pretty fun game." Regular Yugi assumed._

_"I'm actually surprised you're interested in this after the whole MWO thing." Ryuji noted. "I'd have thought that you'd want to avoid VRMMOs altogether."_

_"I don't know. Just because Monster World Online turned out to be a bad game, it doesn't mean that all VRMMOs are the same." Regular Yugi pointed out. "Right now I'm mostly curious. A friend of mine told me that players are able to fly in this game."_

_"Yeah, that's ALO's biggest draw." Ryuji confirmed. "Of course figuring out how fly is the tricky part."_

_"What else can you tell me about this game?" Regular Yugi asked._

_"Well, players can choose from nine different races to play as." Ryuji answered. "There's kind of a rivalry between some of the different races."_

_"Does that mean that the players in this game fight each other?" Yugi asked._

_"Pretty much." Ryuji confirmed. "One other thing I should probably mention is that part of how well you do in the game kind of depends on your own athletic ability."_

_"Well, it sure sounds like an interesting game." Regular Yugi replied. "I actually wouldn't mind trying it out."_

_"Well you're in luck. It just so happens that I have a few copies of the game left." Ryuji revealed as he reached under the counter and produced a small box of game discs for ALO. "You can take the whole box if you like. Maybe Jonouchi and the others might like to play."_

_"Thanks. I'll be sure to offer it to them." Regular Yugi told him as he took the box. "Well, I think I should get back home before my grandpa starts wondering where I am."_

_"I hope you don't have too hard of a time with that game." Ryuji replied as Regular Yugi headed for the door._

_"Well, I'm sure it'll be a challenge." Regular Yugi assumed. "But as long I can't actually die in this game, I'm sure I won't have too much of a problem."_

_Later that evening, Regular Yugi went up to his room and dug his old NerveGear out from under his bed. After plugging in the device, he inserted the disc for ALO and got onto his bed to don the helmet._

_"Well, here goes nothing." Regular Yugi spoke. "Link start!"_

_With those words, Regular Yugi was pulled through a tunnel of multicolored light. Moments later he arrived inside some sort of round chamber with monitor-like panels serving as the walls. In the center of the room was a control panel._

_"Welcome to ALfhiem Online." A computerized female voice greeted. "Please start by entering the name you want to go by and your gender."_

_After Regular Yugi entered his name and gender, nine holographic figures appeared before him. Each one appeared to be a different kind of fairy._

_"There are nine different races of fairies to choose from." The computerized voice continued. "Please select the race you wish to play as."_

_"I wonder which race of fairy I should pick?" Regular Yugi asked. "I guess I should've asked Ryuji a little more about the strengths and weaknesses of each kind."_

_"It will be fine, Partner." Yugi spoke as he appeared. "Just go with your instincts."_

_Regular Yugi scrolled through the different choices a few times. He eventually stopped on the one with green hair and wings and hit the select button._

_"You have selected sylph." The computer voice spoke. "You will now be transported to your home town in sylph territory."_

_A flash of light enveloped the room, and Regular Yugi found that he was falling through the sky towards a city with green buildings. He now had pointed ears and his outfit consisted of a long-sleeved green shirt with grey chest armor with long black pants, brown leather boots, and fingerless brown gloves. Suddenly he froze mid fall and was surrounded by blue bolts of electrical energy. A massive black space opened up beneath him and he fell in. After an uncertain amount of time, Regular Yugi woke up in the middle of a forest._

_"Partner, are you okay?" Yugi asked as he reappeared._

_"Yeah, I think so." Regular Yugi answered as he got to his feet. "What happened anyway? How'd we end up here?"_

_"Perhaps there was some sort of malfunction with the game." Yugi assumed._

_"That could be." Regular Yugi agreed. "Well, we might as well start figuring out how this game works."_

_After a moment, Regular Yugi figured out how to access his menu screen. He was relieved to see that the main menu contained a logout option. Upon examining his stats, Regular Yugi noticed something very odd._

_"Hey! Our new character has the stats and abilities of our character from Monster World Online." Regular Yugi informed his other self._

_"Strange." Yugi remarked. "What about our items from that game?"_

_Regular Yugi began to scroll through the item menu. "Looks like the only item the game recognizes is our Amulet of Dark Magic. Everything else is listed as a bunch of question marks."_

_"Perhaps we should delete every item we have except for the amulet." Yugi recommended._

_"Good idea." Regular Yugi agreed as he began deleting items. Once he placed the amulet around his neck, he was done. "Well, I guess the only thing we can do now is start exploring the game."_

_Regular Yugi took another look at his menus and quickly found a help screen showing the basic method of flight in the game. Transparent green wings appeared on his back and a control device materialized in his left hand. Using the controller, Regular Yugi rose off the ground. After bumping around for a few moments he finally took off into the night sky._

_Leafa flew across the sky as fast as her wings could carry her. Lagging behind her was a young male sylph with green hair. Her friend's lack of speed was causing a problem, as the two of them had some unwanted company. Fly close behind them were four warrior clad completely in red armor. Each one of them carried a grey lance and had a set of red transparent wings._

_"C'mon, Recon!" Leafa called to her friend. "If we don't move, we're done for!"_

_"I'm moving as fast as I can!" Recon called back._

_Suddenly one of their red-armored attackers moved in from the front and shot him twice with blasts of orange energy from the tip of his lance. Recon quickly turned into a burning green light and faded away. Two more of the attackers shot Leafa from behind, causing her to crash to the forest below. Leafa quickly got to her feet and grabbed for her sword, but her four attacks had already moved down to hover before her._

_"End of the line, blondie." A female voice spoke._

_Leafa looked up to see a young woman floating down from the sky to join her four attackers. She had red eyes and long red hair tied back into a braided ponytail. A lock of her hair grew down to obscure her left eye. She had on sleeveless red torso armor with gold trim and ornate gold shoulder guards styled like flames, along with an armored red skirt that ended above her knees and red armored boots. Gold bracelets adorned her wrists and a sword hung at her waist._

_"You might as well make things easy on yourself and give up." The young woman told Leafa. "Twenty of you sylphs wouldn't be able to beat me and my guys. So there's no way in hell that just one of you could take us out. Face it, blondie. You're screwed."_

_"You seem pretty confident that you can beat me." Leafa observed. "But I'm a lot tougher than you think."_

_"Boy, I guess all blondes really are airheads." The redhead remarked, causing her four underlings to chuckle. "Haven't you figured out who I am yet? The name's Ember."_

_Leafa went a little pale upon hearing the redhead's name. "You're one of the strongest warriors in the salamander army!"_

_"That's right." Ember confirmed. "And it's curtains for you. Okay boys, blow her away!"_

_Before Ember's men could launch an attack, Regular Yugi crashed to the ground through the trees and landed on his face. All eyes moved to him as Regular Yugi managed to get to his feet._

_"Boy, this flying thing sure is tough." Regular Yugi remarked. He then noticed that he was being watched. "Oh! Uh, hi there."_

_"What the hell is this?" one of Ember's men wondered._

_"Looks like another sylph." A second of Ember's men observed. "And he looks ten times more pathetic than that other sylph we just took out."_

_"If this is the best your side could do for reinforcements, you sylphs are pretty much screwed." Ember remarked to Leafa._

_"Hey, are you five attacking this girl?" Regular Yugi realized._

_"What the hell does it look like, genius?" Ember responded. "We're salamanders and she's a sylph. Boy, just how dense are you?"_

_"Hey Lady Ember, I think this kid's a newbie." Realized a third member of Ember's team. "It'd probably be a waste of time wiping him out."_

_"Yeah, you're probably right." Ember agreed. "Okay, newb. I'm gonna do you a favor and let you go. But you better pray that you don't run into us again."_

_"I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not going to just run away and let you gang up on someone!" Regular Yugi declared._

_"Just do as they say and run! I'll be fine!" Leafa told him. "There's no way someone like you can take them on!"_

_"Listen to your little blonde friend, starhead." Ember told him. "Otherwise you're in for a world of pain."_

_Yugi became bathed in a golden light from his puzzle and his heroic persona took over. "You are the ones who'd better run!"_

_"Hey! What gives?" the fourth member of Ember's team asked. "This kid seems different somehow."_

_"Who cares? He's still a rookie." Ember pointed out. "And there's no way in hell a rookie can take us down."_

_"I may have a few things to learn about this game, but I do have one method of fighting that none of you can stand against!" Yugi told them. "Come forth, Dark Magician!"_

_A beam of purple light shot from the amulet hanging from Yugi's neck. The purple light quickly faded to reveal a man wearing purple armor and robes and a curved conical hat on his head. In his right hand he carried a green staff._

_"What the hell? How can a newbie like this have a rare item that lets him summon an NPC?" one of Ember's men exclaimed._

_"I transfer all of my mana to Dark Magician in order to increase his attack power!" Yugi announced. A stream of green light flowed from Yugi into Dark Magician's back. "Dark Magician, take them down! Diffusion Wave Motion!"_

_Dark Magician raised his staff in the air and sent out several blades of purple energy towards Ember and her team. Ember's four men were cut to ribbons before turning into balls of burning red light. At the last second, Ember created a barrier of red light that blocked the blades._

_"Why you damn…!" Ember began to curse. But before she could finish her sentence, Dark Magician moved in and brought the tip of his staff near her throat._

_"I suggest you leave now." Yugi told her with a smug expression. "There's no way you can you can win this fight."_

_Ember gritted her teeth. "Fine! But you haven't seen the last of me, starhead! Once I raise my magic skill, I'm coming back with five times more men to take you out!"_

_With that, Ember flew away into the night sky. Dark Magician vanished and both Yugi and Leafa began to relax a bit._

_Yugi turned and walked up to Leafa. "Are you all…?"_

_Before Yugi could finish, Leafa went up and placed a hand over his mouth. "Just be quiet for a moment."_

_Leafa's eyes moved to watch the burning red lights left by Ember's soldiers. After a moment, the flames finally faded to nothing. Leafa sighed and removed her hand from Yugi's face._

_"S-sorry about that." Leafa told Yugi with a slight blush. "Ember's guys might've been listening."_

_"What do you mean?" Yugi asked._

_"You know those lights left behind when you beat them? Those were Remain Lights." Leafa explained. "That's what's left of a player after he's killed. While those lights are burning, other players have a chance to resurrect them."_

_"I see." Yugi replied. "There's still much about this game I don't know about."_

_"Um, thanks for helping me, by the way." Leafa told him. "That was really cool the way you fought those guys off."_

_"Think nothing of it." Yugi replied. "Do you mind telling me your name?"_

_"Oh! I'm, uh… I'm Leafa." The blonde fairy nervously replied. "It's nice to meet you."_

_"I'm Yugi." The Pharaoh replied. "I could use some help learning about this game. Perhaps you could show me around."_

_"Uh, sure!" Leafa agreed. "I'd be happy to."_

* * *

"…Leafa and I began working together in the game shortly after that." Yugi finished in the present. "The next day, I learned about what happened to Asuna and realized that Bakura might be using ALO for his own twisted plans. So I continued playing to try and find out what he was up to."

"What happened to Sugu that got her trapped in the game?" Kirito asked.

"We were flying towards the World Tree when we were attacked by a pair of goblins." Yugi explained. "They seemed to be some kind of NPCs, but there was something strange about them. One of them used a strange item to capture Leafa once she was killed in game while the other distracted me. I was unable to stop them."

"Man, you shouldn't have been doing this alone!" Honda told him. "We could've helped you."

"Lay off, Honda. Yugi feels bad about this as it is." Joey told him. "Besides, I get why he did this on his own."

"The important thing now is saving Kirito's sister." Anzu pointed out. "And Kaiba didn't give us much time to do it."

With that, Yugi rose to his feet and pulled out another box from under his bed. "These are the extra copies of ALO that Ryuji gave me. There's one copy for each of you."

Kirito and the others each took one of the game copies from the box. Joey began looking at the front of the case and scowled.

"Something wrong, Jonouchi?" Anzu asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I get that we have to save Kirito's sister and all. But I'm not crazy about playing a game as a girly fairy." Joey admitted.

"I'm kinda with Jonouchi on this one." Honda agreed. "Maybe the two of us should just sit this one out."

"Kazuto and Yugi don't seem to have any problem playing as a fairy." Asuna pointed out with a smirk. "I guess maybe they're more secure in their masculinity than you two are."

"Yeah. Why don't the two of you show us what real me you are and play the game with us?" Anzu dared.

"What the…? Fine! You're on!" Joey declared as he rose to his feet. "I'll show you both what I'm made of!"

"Same here!" Honda agreed.

"Then it's settled." A determined Kirito responded. "We're going into that game to save Sugu. And we're not giving up until we get her back."

* * *

**Author's Note:** The flashbacks in this chapter take place right the events of _The Fairy Cage_. I've actually been toying with the idea of doing a prequel to this story that shows Yugi and Leafa's adventures together in ALO. Mainly because there are a few events from that time that I can't really show in this story. Well I could, actually. But it would mean a whole lot of flashbacks and I'm not sure where I can work some of them in.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	5. Challenge of the Goblin King

**Author's Note:** I want to quickly apologize for the bit of confusion regarding how Yugi and Yami Yugi have been named in this story. The reason why I haven't been referring to Yami Yugi as Yami is because he was never called that in the manga or in the original Japanese version of the anime. Yugi would simply refer to Yami Yugi as "the other me" and his friends would call him "the other Yugi" or just Yugi. I will admit that I had some problems with that when writing _MWO_, but it was never that big of an issue since Yami Yugi was usually the one "on screen" so to speak. So in this story and future stories in this series, the real Yugi will be referred to as Regular Yugi while Yami Yugi will simply be called Yugi. I hope that clears things up, and I'm sorry for the confusion.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 4: Challenge of the Goblin King

The evening had grown late by the time Kirito entered his room. Sitting on the table by the door was his old NerveGear helmet. The device had scratches and dust on it from not being cleaned during his time in MWO. Making sure that the helmet continued to look good was obviously a low priority for the doctors and nurses at the hospital his body had been kept in. After loading the disc for ALO into his computer, Kirito got onto his bed and put the helmet on.

"One last time." Kirito spoke. "Link start!"

Kirito found himself being pulled rapidly through a tunnel of multicolored light. Moments later he arrived into the same round room that Yugi had described in his story.

"Welcome to ALfhiem Online." A computerized female voice greeted as soon as Kirito walked up to the control panel. "Please start by entering the name you want to go by and your gender."

Kirito entered his old character name from MWO and his gender into the consol. As soon as he did, holographic figures of nine different kinds of fairies appeared before him.

"There are nine different races of fairies to choose from." The computerized voice continued. "Please select the race you wish to play as."

Kirito cycled through the nine choices until settling on a male fairy with a set of black transparent wings wearing black hooded clothes. Thinking that the hooded figure looked cool, Kirito made his choice.

"You have selected spriggan." The computerized voice spoke. "You will now be transported to your own town in spriggan territory."

A blinding white light enveloped Kirito and he soon found himself falling through the sky towards a large brown Mayan pyramid. His ears had become pointed and his black hair had become spiked. He had a simple sword slung over his back, and his outfit consisted of a pair of long black pants with a black shirt and a black jacket with white trim on the ends of the sleeves. Halfway towards the city below, Kirito suddenly froze in midair as bolts of blue lighting surrounded him. A massive black space opened up beneath him and Kirito fell in.

Kirito awoke an uncertain amount of time later in the middle of a forest. As he got to his feet, he suddenly heard the sound of a scream filling the air. Kirito looked up and saw a person falling through the air. Very quickly, he recognized the voice.

"Asuna!" Kirito called out as he ran towards the spot that Asuna looked like she might fall.

Kirito dove forward as Asuna neared the ground. He managed to catch her and ended up falling on his back. Asuna quickly recovered from the fall and turned over on top of him. This allowed Kirito to get a good look at her appearance in the game. Her long orange-brown hair had turned light blue along with her eyes. She also seemed to be wearing an outfit similar to her old Knights of the Blood Oath uniform from MWO. Only the colors were white and blue instead of white and red.

"Is that you, Kazuto?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah." Kirito confirmed. "Boy, you actually look kinda cute with blue hair."

"You're not so bad-looking yourself, spiky head." Asuna playfully responded as she tugged at his hair.

"Uh, we should probably figure out where we are." Kirito suggested.

"Oh, yeah." Asuna agreed as she got off him.

After Kirito rose to his feet, the two of them checked their menu screens. Both of them breathed a heavy sigh of relief when they found the logout option at the bottom of their main menus.

"Well, at least we're not stuck in this game." Asuna observed.

"Yeah." Kirito replied before taking another look at his screens. "Hey, it looks like I have all my stats and skills from MWO, except for my dual wielding skill."

"Same with me." Asuna replied as she looked at her own screens. "All my items seem scrambled though."

Kirito suddenly remembered something upon hearing Asuna talking about her game items. He quickly called up his own item list and began scrolling through it in the hopes of finding a particular item. Every item name was simply a bunch of question marks except for one. Clicking on that item, a small white crystal appeared in his hand.

Asuna quickly noticed the item Kirito was now holding. "Is that…?"

Before Asuna could finish her question, Kirito touched the front of the small crystal. The crystal began to glow with a brilliant light and shot up a few feet into the air. The light expanded, and hovering before the couple was a young girl with long black hair wearing a simple white dress. Kirito and Asuna instantly recognized who the girl was. The girl opened her eyes and looked down at Kirito and Asuna.

"Yui, do you remember us?" Kirito asked the girl.

"…Of course I remember you." Yui responded after a moment. "Daddy… mommy."

"Yui!" Asuna happily called as she ran to the girl.

Asuna quickly wrapped her arms around Yui as tears of joy streamed down her face. Kirito quickly joined them in a group hug. The two of them had finally been reunited with their virtual daughter. After a moment, the family went over to sit on a large log, with Yui sitting between Kirito and Asuna.

"So Yui, do you know what's going on?" Kirito asked. The girl shook her head. "Well, we're no longer in Monster World Online. We're in a new game called ALfhiem Online."

"It will take me a moment to analyze the system." Yui told them before closing her eyes. She opened them again after a few seconds. "It looks like this game runs using a copy of the Cardinal System. The software needs to be updated, but that's the only thing that sticks out to me."

"I guess Kaiba Corp copied the system from MWO when they took over control." Asuna assumed.

"Yeah, but if that's true…" Kirito spoke. "Asuna, you remember when we saved Yui from being deleted in MWO? Bakura said that he had merged a part of himself with the Cardinal System when he took control. What if when Kaiba Corp copied that system, they copied that piece of Bakura too? That could be how he's controlling this game."

"But… Bakura used some kind of User ID to override Sugou's control." Asuna recalled as she thought back to her dark rescue.

"Maybe that's just how he interfaces with the system." Kirito theorized. "Either way, I guess it doesn't really matter right now. What I'd like to know is why we both seem to have our stats and abilities from MWO."

"I've also analyzed your character data." Yui answered. "It seems that whatever skills you had that were compatible in this game were ported over and merged with your new character data."

"Well, I guess this means I'm no longer a beater. Just as plain cheater." Kirito responded.

"Hey, you're not the only one then." Asuna pointed out. "So what should we do with our items left over from MWO?"

"You should probably both delete the items you have before the error detection program finds out." Yui suggested.

Kirito and Asuna both called up their item menus again and brought up the Delete All button. Kirito hesitated for a moment before clicking it. Asuna on the other hand didn't seem to hesitate for a second.

"Back to square one, I guess." Kirito spoke.

"It's not like we were able to use those items anymore." Asuna pointed out. "So Yui, what's this game recognizing you as?"

Yui closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "It seems that the game recognizes my program as a Navigation Pixie."

Suddenly Yui began to glow with a dazzling pink light. In moments she had become very small and was wearing a pink dress with a short skirt and pink stockings. On her back was a set of pink transparent fairy wings, and adorning her hair was a pink flower.

"This is what I look like as a Navigation Pixie." Yui informed them as she displayed her new appearance.

"Aww! You're so adorable, Yui!" Asuna declared as she rubbed Yui's cheek with her finger.

"Mommy, that's weird!" Yui protested.

"Okay, so what are we going to do about finding the others?" Kirito asked as he rose to his feet.

Before either of the girls could answer his question, the three of them heard a familiar scream from above. Seconds later a person crashed to the ground a few feet away. Kirito and the others watched as the figure rose to his feet. He had slightly long red hair and wore ornate red armor with gold trim.

"Joey, is that you?" Kirito asked the newcomer.

"Oh, hey Kirito!" Joey replied after noticing the others. "Guess I landed in a good spot. So where…?"

Before Joey could finish his question, another person came down from above and landed on him. Joey was now flat on his stomach, and sitting on his back was a young man with silver hair that came to a sculpted point at the front. He had on a black poncho with long white pant, black boots, and a long-sleeved brown shirt with fingerless black gloves. From his hair, Kirito and Asuna quickly recognized the young man as Honda.

"Oh, hey guys." Honda greeted upon noticing Kirito and the others. "Guess I landed in a good spot, huh?"

"Get off me, ya jerk!" Joey complained.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Jonouchi." Honda replied before getting to his feet. "Hey man, thanks for breaking my fall."

"It wasn't my idea!" Joey replied. "What the hell were you thinking using me as a…?"

Before Joey could finish, another screaming individual came down from above and hit Joey, causing him to fall on his stomach again. Sitting on top of him was a young woman with short blonde hair that Kirito and the others recognized as Anzu. She had on a short-sleeved canary-yellow shirt with a green vest that had a golden musical note on the left breast. She had a red sash for a belt along with a long blue skirt decorated with musical notes. On her feet was a pair of red sandals.

"Boy, that was scary." Anzu declared.

"Will you get the hell off me?" Joey loudly complained.

"Oh, sorry Jonouchi." Anzu told him as she quickly got off.

"Good thing I can't feel pain in this damn game." Joey grumbled as he got back up.

"Well, I guess the important thing is we're all together now." Asuna observed.

"Looks like each of us picked a different kind of fairy to play as though." Honda observed.

"Yeah, I picked being a salamander because that was the manliest-looking fairy the game had." Joey revealed.

"But aren't the salamanders the enemies of the fairy race Yugi's been playing as?" Anzu pointed out.

"Oh… yeah, I forgot." Joey replied. "Well what the heck are you playing as?"

"It's called a pooka." Anzu answered. "From the clothes, it looked like these fairies have something to do with music."

"As for me, I'm playing as a leprechaun." Honda informed them. "I just picked that one because I liked how the wings looked."

"What about you, Asuna?" Anzu asked.

"Well, I'm playing as an undine." Asuna answered.

"And I'm playing as a spriggan." Kirito added.

"You picked that one just because it was wearing all black, didn't you?" Asuna assumed.

"Well… maybe." Kirito admitted.

"That figures." Asuna replied. "Just about every piece of clothing you have is black. What is it with you and black, anyway?"

"So I like black. What's the big deal?" Kirito asked.

"Uh, could you guys save that for later?" Anzu requested. "Right now we need to meet up with Yugi."

"Before we left his place, Yugi told us to meet with him at a town called Ambervail." Honda recalled.

"Ambervail isn't far from here." Yui spoke, getting the attention of the others. "The trip should only take a few minutes by flight."

"Uh, Kirito? Isn't that little fairy there that girl you and Asuna sorta adopted in MWO?" Joey observed.

"Yeah, apparently she's a Navigation Pixie in this game." Kirito explained. "Anyway, we should get going."

After Joey and the others took a few moments to delete all their items that the game didn't recognize, Yui showed them how to fly using the controllers. Flying was difficult for the team at first, but they quickly seemed to get the hang of it. The several times during the trip over, Joey seemed to have the unfortunate habit of flying too low and running into the tops of trees. Before long, the team came to a fairly large town that seemed to have several different kinds of fairies walking its streets. They quickly spotted the Nameless Pharaoh waiting for them in the town square.

Kirito and the others landed in the square. Though Joey and Kirito seemed have a somewhat harder time with the landings since they both fell on their faces.

"Glad you were able to make it here so soon." Yugi greeted as he approach.

"We all seemed to have the same glitch you had when you started the game." Kirito explained. "But we were able to find our way here thanks to Yui."

"Yui?" Yugi replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Hello, Mr. Yugi." The little pixie greeted. "It's nice seeing you again."

"So now that we're here, what next?" Joey asked.

"Now we head for the World Tree." Yugi answered as he looked towards the giant tree in the distance. "That's where Bakura is holding Leafa."

"General Yugi!" a high-pitched voice called.

Yugi and the others looked to see a short young man with green hair running towards them. He had on an orange shirt with long sleeves and long green pants. By the time the young man got to them, he stopped to catch his breath.

"Man! I've been looking all over for you." The young man told Yugi.

"What is it, Recon?" Yugi asked.

Recon was about to answer when he took a look at the others and froze. "Uh, general? Who're all these people?"

"These people are friends of mine." Yugi answered.

"But… the one guy's a salamander." Recon pointed out. "And that spriggan guy looks pretty shady."

"Hey!" Joey protested, causing Recon to flinch.

"Recon, what race they chose to play as does not matter." Yugi told him. "Besides, I've told you many times before that great things can be accomplished if the different fairy races worked together. Now, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, I just wanted to find out if you knew what happened to Leafa." Recon explained. "I can find her anywhere in the game or reach her in the real world."

"Are you a friend of Leafa's in the real world?" Kirito suddenly asked.

"Uh, well yeah." Recon confirmed. "We go to the same school. But I don't see…"

"Leafa's my sister." Kirito revealed. "And we're here because something bad has happened to her in this game."

"So you're her brother…" Recon explained. "Wait, what's happened to Leafa?"

"It's hard to explain." Yugi answered. "All I can tell you is that she's been captured and can't log out."

Before Recon could ask any more questions, a horribly familiar laugh filled the air. Kirito and the others looked up and saw a giant transparent image of Bakura's head appeared in the sky above. Yugi and the others were not the only ones to noticed Bakura's appearance. Every other player in town had looked up as well.

"Hello, little fairies." Bakura spoke to the watching players below. "It's about time that I introduced myself to you all. I am Bakura, the Goblin King. Some of you may have already heard that I murdered your king, Oberon and took over his castle atop the World Tree. I can tell you that rumor is true. I and my goblin subjects now control the World Tree, and soon we shall take over this entire land!"

"It's beginning." Yugi spoke. "Bakura's making his next move."

"Of course, I will give you all a chance to stop me." Bakura continued. "If you want to do that, come to my new castle atop the tree and face me. But I won't make it easy for any of you. When I took over Oberon's castle I made a few renovations. I also changed the locks to the doors. If anyone wants to get into the World Tree, you must first find the nine keys located in the nine different territories in this land. A map to each of those keys should now be among each and everyone's items."

Kirito and the others check their item menus. There was indeed a new item listed as a map.

"Only with those keys can you even hope for a chance to face me." Bakura finished. "So come for me, if you dare. If by some miracle one of you is able to defeat me, you shall receive a prize beyond imagination. I'll be waiting."

With that, the giant image of Bakura faded away. The other players began talking amongst themselves about the message.

"This is bad!" Kirito declared. "Kaiba didn't give us much time before he said he'd pull the plug. How the hell are we supposed to get to all those keys in time?"

"It's worse than you think." Yugi told him. "Bakura has now made it so that every player in the game will want to face him in the hopes of obtaining a great prize. Which means fights will most likely break out over those nine keys."

"So we'll probably end up fighting other players just to get even one key." Asuna realized.

"That's right." Yugi gravely confirmed. "Saving Leafa from Bakura will not be easy at all."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I reviewed the different types of fairies in ALO a few times while figuring out what kind Yugi and his four friends would be playing as. Right away I decided that Joey would be a salamander. And I decided that Yugi/Yami Yugi would be playing as a sylph because I kind of thought that the sylphs had a sort of regal appearance that seemed to fit the pharaoh. Originally Anzu was going was going to be a sylph as well, but when I read that the pookas specialized in music-based attacks I decided that species would be a better fit for Anzu. As for Honda playing as a leprechaun, I just felt that the wings seemed to suit him.

This will most likely be the last chapter I do for at least a few days. That class of mine starts tomorrow, and I still don't know how long the first assignment is going to take me. I'll try and get the next chapter done on Wednesday, otherwise it probably won't be up until either Friday or Sunday. So until then, stay tuned.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	6. Pumpkin Patch of the Dead

**Author's Note:** This first week of my online class has turned out to be a bit brutal. But hopefully it'll get easier for me as time goes on. The good news is that I was able to finish all of this week's work for the class, so I was able to get this chapter done a little earlier than expected.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 5: Pumpkin Patch of the Dead

Shortly after Bakura had made his little challenge to the players of ALO, Yugi and the rest of the team quickly decided on a course of action. Yugi had gone somewhere to try and get help obtaining the nine keys while Kirito and the others went to do a little shopping in town and upgrade their gear. When they were done, they would meet back up with Yugi again in the town square. The money everyone had obtained in MWO had transferred over, and though the denomination was quite different it was more than sufficient for buying quality equipment. Shortly after the little shopping trip had begun, Kirito and Asuna had split off from the rest of the group to shop for items on their own.

The couple's trips to their various shops in the town of Amberveil had been quite successful. Kirito had managed to acquire a better sword as well as a long black coat. Almost half an hour had gone by and the two of them had been to more than ten shops.

"Don't you think we should go back to the square to meet up with the others?" Asuna suggested. "We're almost tapped out, and I think we have enough new gear."

"I just want to make sure we don't overlook any really items." Kirito replied.

The two of them turned a corner and encountered a small stand at the end of an alley. The person running the little shop was a man with olive skin and a very serious expression. He had on a white turban and white robes, and round gold earrings on his pointed ears. Kirito and Asuna were unsure about what species of fairy this shopkeeper was supposed to be, but it didn't seem to matter, as he was most likely an NPC anyway. Hanging from the shopkeeper's neck by a brown leather string was a golden key in the shape of an ankh.

"Welcome, young travelers." The shopkeeper greeted as Kirito and Asuna approached. "I trust that you're about to embark on a long and dangerous quest."

"Well I'm sure it'll be dangerous, but hopefully not too long." Kirito replied. "What kind of items do you sell here?"

"I only sell items that those who come here truly need." The shopkeeper replied. "And you, young man are truly in need of this item."

With that, the shopkeeper held out a small amulet on a black string to Kirito. It was silver with a round blue gemstone in the center. The sides of the amulet were fashioned to look like a pair of wings.

Kirito took the small amulet and examined it. "The Amulet of Stardust. According to the description, it gives the player wearing it a fifteen percent increase in speed."

"There is more to that amulet than meets the eye." The shopkeeper told him. "In time, its great hidden powers shall be revealed to you."

"So what about me?" Asuna asked.

"For you, young lady I have an item that is just as powerful." The shopkeeper told her as he produced another amulet.

The item that the shopkeeper presented to Asuna was another small amulet that hung by a white string. This amulet was gold and had a round red gem in the center. Like the amulet given to Kirito, the sides of this amulet were also fashioned to look like wings.

Asuna took the amulet and looked at the description. "The Amulet of Moonlight. It has the same effect as the other amulet."

"Well, I guess it can't hurt to have an extra boost of speed." Kirito reasoned.

"Hold on. We don't really have a whole lot of money to burn right now." Asuna reminded him before turning back to the shopkeeper. "Just how much do these amulets cost?"

"These items have no price. Consider them my gift to you." The shopkeeper told them. "After all, you were faded to have them."

"For real?" Kirito asked. "Wow. Thanks."

"There you two are!" Anzu's voice spoke from behind, causing the couple to turn.

Joey, Anzu, and Honda stood at the other end of the alley wearing slightly different outfits from before. Joey had on a new suite of red armor with blue trim and the symbol of a blue flame adorning the front of the chest plate. Slung over Joey's back was the only item of his that had successfully transferred over from MWO, his legendary Blue Flame Sword. Honda meanwhile had traded in his black poncho for iron-grey chest armor and a belt with two silver pistols that hung from his waist. Slung across his back by a leather strap was a black rifle. As for Anzu, she had on a piece of white chest armor under her vest, and hanging at her waist by a brown leather string slung over her right shoulder was a small golden harp.

"We've been looking all over for you guys." Anzu continued.

"What the heck are you doing in this alley?" Honda asked the couple.

"We were just checking out this little…" Kirito began as he turned back around.

As soon as Kirito turned around, he found that the little shop and its owner were gone. The only thing at the end of the alley was a brick wall. Asuna turned as well upon noticing Kirito's look of surprise and also noticed that the shop was missing.

"What's with you guys?" Joey asked.

"There was a little shop right here at the end of this alley just a second ago." Kirito explained.

"What are you talking about?" a confused Anzu asked. "When we got here, it looked like you were just starring at that wall."

"But there really was a shop here!" Asuna insisted. "Kirito and I both talked to the shopkeeper."

"Hey Yui, can you come out for a second?" Kirito requested.

Yui flew out of Kirito's front chest pocket and sat on his shoulder. "What is it daddy?"

"You heard your mom and me talking to the guy who was running the shop that was just here, right?" Kirito asked.

"I don't remember you and mommy talking to anyone running a shop in this alley." Yui replied. "Come to think of it, I can't seem to remember going into this alley in the first place."

"But how is that possible?" a very confused Asuna asked.

"C'mon, we better get back to the square." Joey told the couple. "Yugi's probably waiting for us."

"Yeah… okay." Kirito agreed.

Joey led the way and Anzu and Honda followed close behind. Asuna and Kirito looked at one another for a moment before following them. As they left the alley, they put on the amulets they received from the phantom shopkeeper. It was the only evidence that the couple had of their encounter with him.

* * *

Yugi waited on the very outskirts of the town and looked out towards the sky. After several minutes he finally saw three figures flying towards him in this distance. As the figures got closer, Yugi could make out the details of their appearances. All three of them had sets of green transparent wings. The one on the lead was a young woman with long dark-green hair wearing a green kimono with white trim that helped to show off her cleavage. The two figures with her were both men with green hair wearing grey armor with green long-sleeved shirts.

In moments, the trio landed on the ground a few feet in front of Yugi. The young woman in the lead began to walk towards Yugi while her two escorts hung back.

"Thank you for coming, Sakuya." Yugi told the woman as she approached.

"You did say it was urgent." Sakuya replied. "Besides, I was in the area anyway. So what can I do for my top general?"

"I suppose you've heard about the announcement made by the Goblin King." Yugi assumed.

"You mean that little challenge to find those nine keys?" Sakuya replied. "Every player in the game has heard about it. In fact the story behind these so-called goblins has also been released."

"Do you mean the history behind the goblin race?" Yugi asked.

Sakuya nodded. "According to what I've heard, the goblins tried to conquer this land thousands of years ago but were defeated in a war with the alfs, the fairies of light said to live at the top of the World Tree. After the goblins were defeated, they were sealed beneath the earth where they couldn't do anymore damage. But now they've broken free and are making another play to conquer this land. I have to say, this is a pretty elaborate event. The GMs really put a lot of thought into this one."

"Some friends and I are about to go on a quest to obtain the keys needed to enter the World Tree." Yugi explained. "But with the keys so spread out, we need help getting our hands on them all."

"I'm way ahead of you on this one." Sakuya replied. "I've already deployed several squads to get the keys. I've also contacted Alicia and asked her to do the same."

"Thank you. That should help a great deal." Yugi told her.

"I doubt that sending out squads will make getting our hands on these keys any easier though." Sakuya reminded him. "You heard the Goblin King's promise about a prize beyond imagination to the one who defeated him. Every player in ALO is going to want to get their hands on that prize, especially the salamanders."

"Even so, it is urgent that we get those keys." Yugi told her. "I thank you again for your assistance."

"Not a problem at all." Sakuya replied before turning to rejoin her escorts. She stopped for a moment to look back at Yugi. "Good luck."

With that, Sakuya rejoined her two guards and took off into the sky with them. Yugi stood and watched for a moment as the three of them faded into the distance.

* * *

Kirito and the others waited patiently in the town square for Yugi to return. They had been waiting for barely four minutes before the Nameless Pharaoh returned.

"So were you able to get help?" Kirito asked Yugi.

"I've spoken with the leader of the sylphs. She's already sent out squads to obtain the keys." Yugi answered. "The players cait sith will be helping us as well due to the alliance between them and the sylphs."

"Wow! How'd you manage all that?" an impressed Joey asked.

"Sugu's friend Recon called you a general when we ran into him." Kirito recalled. "Is your rank how you were able to speak with the leader of the sylphs?"

"I obtained that title when I thwarted an attack by the salamanders during negotiations between the sylphs and the cait siths." Yugi explained. "It's a long story, but Sakuya, the leader of the sylphs was so impressed with my abilities that she made me her top general."

"You've only been playing this game for a few days and you've already built a big reputation for yourself." An impressed Asuna observed.

"Hey. That's Yugi for ya." Joey remarked.

"In any case, we should get going." Kirito spoke. "Those keys aren't going to get themselves, and we don't have a lot of time to waste."

"Right. We'll head for the key location closest to us and let the sylphs and the cait siths worry about the other keys for now." Yugi decided.

"So just what key is closest to us?" Honda asked.

"According to the map, the key closest to our position is in a place called the Pumpkin Patch of the Dead located east of here." Yui answered after sticking her head out of Kirito's pocket.

"Pumpkin Patch of the Dead?" Joey repeated as he went a bit pale. "That sounds kinda creepy."

"There aren't any… ghosts at that place, are there?" Asuna wondered as she also went a bit pale.

"Whatever's there, we can beat it." Kirito declared.

"Right. Now let's go." Yugi told them.

"Hold on." Kirito spoke up. "Before we get going Yugi, is there any way we can fly without using the controller?"

"There is." Yugi answered. "Leafa was actually the one who showed me how…."

* * *

_Only a few moments had passed after Yugi had scared Ember off and defeated her men. Leafa had since agreed to show Yugi the ropes of ALO._

_"Well, shall we get going?" Leafa asked Yugi._

_"Actually before we go, I was wondering if you could show me a way to use my wings without relying on the game's controller." Yugi requested._

_"There is, but it's a little hard to master." Leafa informed him. "First, get your wings to appear."_

_Yugi willed his set of green transparent wings to appear. "Now what?"_

_Leafa walked up and placed her right hand on the center of Yugi's back. "Okay, now try and imagine that you have bones and muscles spreading out into your wings."_

_Yugi closed his eyes and tried to pretend that the wings on his back were actually part of his body. He tried to move them like he would move his arms and legs. After a few moments of concentration, Yugi's wings began to vibrate._

_"That's it! You're doing it!" Leafa told him._

_Yugi continued trying to move his wings for a few moments before taking off into the air. It took him a few moments to learn how to control his movements._

_"Looks like you've gotten the hang of it." Leafa observed as she flew up to join him. "Ready to go?"_

_"Lead the way." Yugi replied._

* * *

"…It sounds like you and Leafa got pretty close." Anzu observed back in the present.

"So all we have to do is imagine that our wings are part of our bodies." Kirito spoke.

"That's right." Yugi confirmed. "It is a little bit difficult though. Don't expect to get the hang of it right away."

Kirito and the others spent a few minutes learning to control their wings by thought. It took Joey and Honda a little longer to get the hang of it than the others, but soon the entire team was able to take off into the sky unaided. They flew towards the first key location following Yui's direction. After almost nine minutes of flying, they landed in front of a large dark forest. With their wings needing time to recharge, the team entered the forest to travel the rest of the way on foot.

Asuna and Anzu took up the rear as the team ventured deeper into the forest. As they walked, Asuna was busy looking at something on her menu screens.

"What're you doing?" Anzu asked Asuna.

"Just trying to get the hang of these magic spells." Asuna replied. "I'll probably need to be able to use these healing spells on everyone if things get real bad. Plus it's taking my mind off what kind of things might be living in this forest."

"Good call. We'll probably need to be ready for anything." Anzu responded.

"You okay, Anzu? You seem kinda down about something." Asuna observed.

"It's just… I'm still can't quite believe that Yugi kept playing this game a secret from us." Anzu admitted. "Or that he's already made such a big name for himself in here. And after hearing about how he and Leafa seem to be so close, I'm starting to wonder if trying to protect us was Yugi's only reason for keeping all this a secret."

"You think something might've been going on between Yugi and Sugu?" Asuna realized.

"It could be I'm just imagining things but… I can't help but wonder." Anzu replied.

"…I wouldn't worry about it too much." Asuna responded after a moment. "I know I haven't actually seen how Yugi and Leafa act together, but I'm pretty sure Yugi only sees her as a friend."

"You think so?" Anzu asked.

"Yeah. If anything, I think Yugi might be more interested in you." Asuna replied. "At least that's the feeling I get."

"Thanks Asuna." A grateful Anzu told her. "Hey, would you mind keeping what we just talked about to yourself?"

"Don't worry. My lips are sealed." Asuna assured her.

After a few more moments of walking, the team finally arrived at a large clearing in the center of the forest. A massive field of pumpkins ranging from various sizes covered the whole clearing.

"Looks like this is the place." Honda observed. "Not sure why this place is called the Pumpkin Patch of the Dead though. I mean I don't see any skulls or anything."

"You're actually complaining about that?" Joey asked.

Just as Honda was about to respond, four figures suddenly emerged from the surrounding trees and surrounded them. They were all men with pale skin wearing short-sleeved purple shirts with hoods and long black pants. Each of them had a sword with a long curved blade. Kirito and the others quickly reached for their weapons.

"Well, well, this certainly is an unexpected treat." A voice spoke from the trees.

Walking into the clearing was a fairy tall man with long green hair that went down just past his shoulders. He had on a very tattered olive green cloak that looked as though it had seen better days.

"Sigurd!" Yugi identified.

"Nice to see you again, general." The man known as Sigurd replied. "I never expected that you and I would try going after the exact same key to the Goblin King's fortress."

"Yugi, you know this jerk?" Joey asked.

"This man was the leader of a party that Leafa was with when I first entered the game." Yugi explained.

"Yes, and you stole her from me!" Sigurd responded. "Just like you stole everything else! I had power and influence, and you took that all away from me!"

"You did that to yourself when you betrayed your comrades for the sake of power!" Yugi argued. "You conspired with the salamanders and helped to orchestrate the attack on Sakuya's negotiations with the cait sith!"

"I could've had everything! If that attack had succeeded, I would've been reborn as a salamander and been made a true power in this land!" Sigurd continued. "But thanks to you and that traitorous Leafa, I'm reduced to playing this game as a renegade."

"What does he mean reborn?" Asuna asked.

"There's recently been a reincarnation added to this game that allows players to be reborn as a different race of fairy, provided he has the permission of that race's leader." Yugi explained. "Sigurd betrayed the sylphs in exchange for the chance to become a salamander."

"It was the natural move for me to make." Sigurd argued. "The salamanders have proven themselves to be the most powerful race in this game. It was in my best interest to side with the winning team."

"All the power in the world isn't worth the cost of betraying your friends, Sigurd!" Yugi argued.

"You're one to talk." Sigurd responded. "One of your traveling companions is a salamander, which makes you just as big a traitor as I am."

"You're wrong, Sigurd!" Yugi told him.

"It doesn't really matter, I suppose." Sigurd continued. "Once I defeat the Goblin King and win the ultimate prize, I shall become the ultimate power in this game! Even the salamanders will bow before me! In the meantime, these imp mercenaries I've hired should make quick work of you and your little band of riffraff."

With that, Sigurd snapped his fingers and one of the four imps charged at Yugi. Kirito quickly moved in between them and drew his sword, slashing the mercenary in the stomach. The imp was immediately reduced to a ball of burning purple light. A second of the imp assassins chanted a spell and fired several balls of purple light at the team. Honda drew the two pistols hanging from his belt and fired several energy blasts that destroyed each of the imp's projectiles. Honda fired two more shots and hit the imp in the stomach, reducing him to a purple fireball.

The third member of Sigurd's band of imps charged at the team. Asuna quickly moved and struck the warrior several times with her rapier. The imp was turned into a purple fireball within seconds. Joey drew his large blue sword and slashed it through the air, creating a large blade of blue flames that took out the final imp. With the assassins no more than balls of burning light, Joey charged as Sigurd with his sword. Sigurd drew his own blade to try and block the attack, but his sword was instantly cut in half like it was no more than a piece of paper.

After breaking Sigurd's sword, Joey punched the deposed sylph in the chin and knocked him to the ground. Sigurd attempted to get back up, only for Joey to bring the blade of his sword down inches over his face.

"You really are a loser, you know that?" Joey told him. "I only started playing this game tonight, so I don't know much about this feud between the salamanders and the sylphs. But I've seen plenty of guys like you before. They all act like big shots, but the moment someone tougher than them comes along they start sucking up to them. I've got no respect for guys like that. And you're even worse because you'd sell out your own friends just to get ahead. That's something that Yugi would never do. Even if you do become the strongest player in this game, you'll still be a loser because you sold out what's most important."

With that, Joey turned and began to walk back to Yugi and the other. After taking only two steps though, the ground suddenly began to shake. Erupting out of the earth right behind Sigurd was a massive pumpkin with a single white eyeball. Instead of a stem, it had a small golden crown, and its large mouth was like that of a jack-o-lantern. Several green vines served as the creature's limbs. The HP gauges quickly appeared next to the living vegetable.

"What the hell is that thing?" Kirito asked.

"Aw man! That's Pumpking the King of Ghosts!" Joey identified. "I thought I saw the last of that thing after I beat that creepy zombie guy at Duelist Kingdom!"

"It appears that we have to defeat Pumpking in order to get the key." Yugi deduced.

Before Sigurd could get back to his feet, Pumpking pierced him through the chest with one of his tentacle vines. Sigurd's HP dropped to zero and he was reduced to a ball of burning green light. The giant pumpkin then grabbed the green fireball with the same tentacle it used to kill Sigurd and threw it into its mouth like a piece of popcorn. It then grabbed one of the fireballs left by the imps and consumed it as well.

"That thing's eating the remain lights!" Kirito observed.

"Does that mean their characters can't be brought back in the game?" Asuna wondered.

"Doesn't really matter if you ask me!" Honda declared as he grabbed his rifle. "All that matters right now is blowing that overgrown jack-o-lantern away!"

As the three final remain lights were devoured, Honda took aim and fired a massive ball of golden energy at Pumpking. The blast hit the creature in the face and created a massive explosion. When the smoke finally cleared, Pumpking had only lost a small-sized chunk of his first HP gauge. The creature retaliated by slamming one of its tentacles down towards the team. Yugi and the others quickly jumped out of the way and managed to avoid being hit.

"What the hell? That shot should've blown a hole in that thing's ugly face!" Honda exclaimed.

"Pumpking seems to be as strong as an upper level boss from MWO, and its defensive stats seem to be unusually high." Yui observed. "Even Mr. Yugi's Dark Magician would need more than two or three shots to defeat it."

"Wait! I think I have a spell that could lower Pumpking's defenses." Anzu informed them. "But I'd need to use it more than once."

Suddenly Pumpking gave off an odd ear-piercing shriek and the other pumpkins in the patch began to float off the ground. A face just like Pumpking's formed on the front of each of the hovering vegetables.

"Looks like things just got a whole lot worse." Kirito observed.

"Asuna, do you think you've gotten the hang of using your healing spells?" Yugi asked.

"I think so." Asuna replied.

"Alright! Then this is what we'll do!" Yugi decided. "Joey and I will take turns attacking Pumpking while Anzu continuously uses her magic to lower his defenses. At the same time, Asuna will use her healing magic to keep Joey and I going. Kirito, you and Honda will focus on keeping these minions off our backs!"

"On it!" Kirito replied.

"Let's go!" Yugi commanded.

Anzu quickly began strumming something on her harp. Several small blasts of yellow energy in the form of musical notes began to shoot from the harp and hit Pumpking. The giant pumpkin looked as though he was starting to fall asleep. Joey then swung his sword and sent forth a massive blade of flames that struck Pumpking in the face, causing his first HP gauge to dip closer into the yellow zone. Pumpking retaliated by knocking Joey back with a vine, causing his HP to drop. Asuna used a healing spell on Joey as Yugi charged in to continue the attack.

Meanwhile, Honda began firing numerous shots from his pistols at the pumpkin minions, causing them to blow apart with a single hit. Kirito on the other hand was busy slashing apart several of the pumpkins with his sword.

"Man! I'm glad I don't have to reload these guns since they're powered by my own magic!" Honda remarked as he blew apart a few more pumpkins.

"Yeah, but neither of us can keep this up forever." Kirito pointed out as he continued his slashing.

Meanwhile, Yugi and Joey kept alternating their attacks on Pumpking. As time went on, their attacks did more and more damage thanks to Anzu's spell. Eventually, Pumpking's final HP gauge had entered the red zone.

"I'll finish this off! Come forth, Dark Magician!" Yugi commanded. A purple light shot from Yugi's amulet and formed into the Pharaoh's faithful servant. "Dark Magician, obliterate Pumpking with Dark Magic Attack!"

Dark Magician thrust his staff forwards and stuck Pumpking with a massive blast of crackling black energy. Pumpking's remaining HP went to zero and he exploded in a mass of blue polygons. The pumpkin's minions instantly shattered apart as soon as their master was dead. A message then appeared on Yugi's menu screen.

"We have the first key." Yugi told the others.

"Great, let's head back to town and log out." Honda suggested. "I think we've all had enough fighting for the night."

"Not so fast!" a familiar female voice spoke from above. Yugi and the others looked up to see Kyra and Garm hovering above them atop their demonic birds.

"Who are these guys?" Kirito asked.

"These are the two goblins who took Leafa!" Yugi told him.

"How nice of you to remember us, sylph." Garm responded.

"What the hell do you two want?" Kirito demanded to know.

"We've been ordered by our king to retrieve the key you just took." Kyra answered. "So unless you want a painful death, I suggest you hand it over. Otherwise, Garm and I will show you no mercy."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Anyone care to guess who the mysterious shopkeeper Kirito and Asuna encountered was? I'm sure I made his identity completely obvious. Anyway, in this chapter we learned a little more more about Yugi's exploits in ALO that took place prior to the events of this story. He basically took care of the stuff that sidetracked Kirito in the original Fairy Dance arc of _SAO_. I'm still toying with the idea of doing a prequel to this story that shows Yugi and Leafa's adventures together.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	7. Moonlight and Stardust

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 6: Moonlight and Stardust

"We're not handing over this key to either of you!" Yugi told Kyra and Garm.

"We were hoping you'd say that, sylph." Garm responded with an eager grin. "Now we get to try and take it by force."

"Why the hell are you guys trying to take the key anyway?" Honda demanded to know.

"Our king only wishes to make his little game more challenging for you fairy folk." Kyra explained. "So if you really want to hold onto that key just earned by beating the Great Pumpking, then you'll have to get past us first."

Kirito responded to Kyra's dare by flying up and slashing at Garm with his blade. The muscular goblin blocked the attack with the blade of his axe and forced Kirito back.

"You're pretty fiery for a spriggan." Garm remarked. "I'm going to enjoy tearing you to pieces."

"Now, now, Garm. Save some for me." Kyra told him as she came up from behind Kirito and raised her whip.

Just as Kyra's whip was about to strike Kirito in the back, Asuna flew up and blocked the attack with a slash of her rapier. "I'm not going to let you hurt him!"

"You certainly are feisty, undine." Kyra remarked with a predatory smirk. "Not to mention very attractive. I could show you a night that could set fire to your dreams for the rest of your life."

"Are… are you hitting on me?" Asuna asked.

Kyra licked her lips. "Once my people take over this land, I plan to form a harem made from the most beautiful fairy women I can find. Play your cards right, and you could be a crown jewel in that harem. What do you say?"

"Thanks, but that's not gonna happen." Asuna told her.

"A pity." Kyra responded. "I guess we're going to do things the hard way. But then I do love a challenge."

With that, Kyra threw a pumpkin burning with green flames at Asuna. Asuna cut the pumpkin in half and moved in to attack. Meanwhile, Kirito was still busy trying to fight off Garm.

"We gotta get up there and help them!" Joey decided down on the ground.

"Not so fast!" Garm responded. "I've got something else to occupy you fools!"

With that, Garm began chanting a spell and fired a shot of green energy down at the ground in front of Yugi and the others. Suddenly a massive creature burst out from the earth and towered over the rest of the team. Much of its body was a shadowy mass, though its large claws and lower legs seemed to have lavender skin. Its head had a pair of curved horns, and the only features of its face that could be made out were a pair of yellow eyes and a yellow fanged mouth. Four HP gauges appeared next to the creature's head.

"Say hello to the Despair from the Dark!" Garm announced.

"Aw crap!" Joey cursed. "We nearly bought it trying to take down Pumpking, and now we gotta fight this thing?"

"There's no choice!" Yugi pointed out. "Dark Magician, attack Despair from the Dark! Dark Magic Attack!"

Dark Magician blasted the shadow creature with the cracking dark energy from the staff and struck it in the face. The smoke cleared and Despair from the Dark had lost a good chunk of his first HP gauge. But the creature recovered and slashed Dark Magician with its massive claws. The attack knocked Dark Magician to the ground and had taken out almost half his HP. Joey then slashed his sword through the air and hit the creature with a blade of blue flames.

The beast's first HP gauge went to zero, but it quickly recovered and kicked Joey away with its large foot. Joey was knocked back and his HP went into the yellow zone.

"Jonouchi, are you all right?" a concerned Yugi asked.

"Yeah, but this thing ain't gonna go down easy." Joey observed as he got back to his feet.

"Our attacks have already done a large amount of damage!" Yugi pointed out. "We just have to try and avoid this creature's feet and claws!"

Despair from the Dark moved forwards and nearly stomped Yugi with his foot. Yugi managed to roll out of the way and fell back. A split second after, Joey flew in close and hit the beast with another blade of blue flames and took off a little more than half is second HP gauge. The beast attempted to slash him with its claws, but Joey managed to move back and avoid the attack.

"Dark Magician, attack Despair from the Dark again!" Yugi commanded. "Dark Magic Attack!"

The Dark Magician fired another black blast at the creature, taking its second gauge into the red zone. The beast slashed at the wizard a second time, but this time Dark Magician just barely moved back in time to avoid the attack.

"They can't keep dodging that thing's attacks forever!" a concerned Honda observed from the sidelines. "And I used up all my mana taking out those killer pumpkins."

"I used up mine casting those defense lowering spells on Pumpking." Anzu replied.

"Looks like all we can do now is watch." Honda gravely responded. "And with Kirito and Asuna fighting those two goblins, Yugi and Jonouchi are on their own."

Joey hit the creature with another blade of blue flames, taking out the last of its second HP gauge and taking off a good-sized chunk of its third. Despair from the Dark quickly recovered though and knocked Joey to the ground with a slash from his massive claws. The attack had caused his HP to drop down into the red. Dark Magician blasted the beast with another magic attack, but this time the creature blocked the attack with the palm of its right hand. Despair from the Dark slashed at Dark slashed at Dark Magician and nearly took him down.

Kirito noticed how badly the battle was going for Yugi and the others and attempted to fly down to help. Garm quickly flew down and got in the way, slashing him in the chest with his axe and taking off a chunk of his HP.

"Not so fast, spriggan." Garm told him. "You've gotta finish what you started before you can help your friends."

Asuna attempted to fly down and help Yugi and the others as well, but Kyra was making that impossible. The female goblin was keeping Asuna busy by attacking her with a barrage of flaming pumpkins. Asuna was able to block most of the projectiles with her sword, but the attacks kept coming and she knew she couldn't keep it up forever.

"You're starting to look a little rundown." Kyra remarked. "That offer to become a part of my harem is still good, you know. It'd be a shame for me to kill such a delicious little tart like you."

"Drop dead!" Asuna told her.

"Oh well. If you insist." Kyra replied before chanting another spell and firing another pumpkin barrage.

Meanwhile, Dark Magician managed to land another attack that hit Despair from the Dark in the chest. The beast's third HP gauge went into the red. Despair from the Dark recovered and managed to kick Yugi back with his foot. The Pharaoh was knocked to the ground and his HP gauge dropped close to the red zone.

"Yugi!" a concerned Anzu called out, getting Kirito and Asuna's attention.

"Looks like your little sylph friend isn't going to last much longer." Garm observed.

"And neither are you!" Kyra added.

Just as the two goblins were about to launch another attack, the amulets Kirito and Asuna had gotten from the mysterious shopkeeper gave off blinding bursts of blue and red light. Yugi and the others looked up and noticed the two lights that were now like shining stars.

"Take flight and illuminate the heavens… Stardust Spark Dragon!" Kirito called out.

A beam of light shot from the gem on Kirito's amulet and took the form of a white dragon with large magnificent wings. Its head had a long snout that had a horn on the end, and three long horns grew back from its head. On its chest were two smooth blue gems with light-blue lines on them.

"Awaken and spread the winds of ruin… Moonlight Rose Dragon!" Asuna called out.

Another beam of light shot from the gem on Asuna's amulet and took the form of a second dragon. This dragon had a long neck and a bird-like body. Red rose petals with black lines near the edges covered most of its body like feathers. Growing from the dragon's rear end were four black vine-like tails covered in long red thorns.

"What the hell?" Garm exclaimed. "Where did these dragons come from?"

"They must've been summoned by those amulets they have!" Kyra deduced.

"Stardust Spark Dragon, aid the Pharaoh and protect Dark Magican!" Kirito commanded.

The white dragon reared back his head and fired a beam of blue light that came down and hit Dark Magician, causing the wizard to glow with a blue aura. Despair from the Dark struck Dark Magician with his claws, but the attack did absolutely no damage.

"What's going on?" a surprised Yugi wondered.

"My king! Now's your chance!" Kirito called down. "Finish the beast off!"

Yugi shook off his confusion and returned his focus to the battle. "Dark Magician, continue your attack and end this!"

Dark Magican fired another attack that took off almost half Despair from the Dark's final HP gauge. The creature struck the wizard again with his claws, but the attack once again did no damage. Dark Magician launched another attack that took the beast's HP into the red. Just as the aura faded from Dark Magician, Joey recovered and hit the beast with another blade of blue flames. Despair from the Dark's HP went to zero, and it roared before shattering into blue polygons.

"You're friends may have beaten Despair from the Dark, but let's see how your friends handle an army of Goblin Zombies!" Kyra spoke before raising her hands in the air and chanting a spell.

Several balls of green light shot out from the palms of Kyra's hand and shot down to the ground. The lights quickly transformed into brown, skeletal-looking creatures with large heads that had a long point towards the back and round red eyes. In their hands each of the creatures carried a sinister-looking saber. Yugi and the others were instantly surrounded.

"Moonlight Rose Dragon, send these foul creatures back to the pit from whence they came!" Asuna commanded.

Moonlight Rose Dragon roared and flapped her wings and a massive wind filled with red rose petals blew through the pumpkin patch. The Goblin Zombies turned back into green lights and were instantly blown away.

"What the…? You destroyed my entire army?" Kyra exclaimed.

"I merely undid your summoning spell." Asuna explained. "Now prepare yourself!"

With that, Asuna moved in with her dragon following close behind. Before Kyra could retaliate, Moonlight Rose Dragon began striking the female goblin repeatedly with her tails. At the same time, Asuna stated striking Kyra with her sword. Kyra's HP rapidly fell into the red zone.

"Kyra!" a concerned Garm called out as he flew towards her to assist. Before he could get very far though, Stardust Spark Dragon shot him in the back with a beam of light. Kirito then came in from the front and slashed Garm several times in the chest. The muscular goblin's HP became nothing more than a red sliver.

"Damn you!" Garm cursed after Kirito's attack ended.

"Garm, these two are too much for us!" Kyra called after getting away from Asuna and her dragon. "We have to get out of here!"

"But we don't have the key yet!" Garm reminded her.

"Forget the key! It'll do us little good if we're dead!" Kyra pointed out.

"No! You may be willing to run away like a dog, but I'm not!" Garm told her. "Our king gave us an order, and I'm not leaving until we carry it out!"

"Garm!" Kyra called as her partner flew down towards Yugi.

"Give me the key, sylph!" Garm ordered as he flew in to attack.

Before Garm could get close to Yugi, Dark Magician got in between them and blasted the goblin in the face with a magic blast. Garm's HP fell to zero and bot his body and his demonic bird shattered into polygons that quickly blew away in the wind.

"Garm!" Kyra called again before glaring down at Yugi. "You may have won this round, but I'll be back!"

Kyra quickly chanted another spell and the area became filled with a thick black mist. When the mist cleared, Kyra was nowhere to be seen. With the battle finally over, Dark Magician and Kirito and Asuna's dragons vanished. Kirito and Asuna quickly flew down to join the others.

"You guys okay?" Kirito asked.

"We're fine." Yugi assured them.

"How the heck did you guys summon those dragons?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, and what happened to you two?" Honda added. "After those dragons showed up, it seemed like you guys went into some kind of trance."

"We did?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah, you even called Yugi your king." Anzu informed him.

"Huh… I don't really remember that." Kirito replied. "But then I usually kinda black out during a big battle. I remember summoning the dragon though."

"That fight's kind of a blur to me too." Asuna admitted. "I remember summoning that dragon and attacking Kyra, but I'm kind of drawing a blank on some of the things I said."

"What about those dragons?" Honda asked.

"I think we were able to summon them because of those amulets Asuna and I got from that weird shop." Kirito theorized.

"What shop? You mean that one you said was at the end of that alley you guys were in?" Joey recalled.

"It really was there." Asuna insisted. "Come to think of it, the NPC who ran it looked like he could've been from Egypt. He had this golden key hanging from his neck that looked like an ankh."

Yugi's eyes went wide upon hearing Asuna's description. "A key in the shape of an ankh? That sounds like Shadi!"

"What the… Shadi?" an equally surprised Joey responded. "Since when was he mixed up in all this?"

"Wait, back up! Who's this Shadi you're talking about?" Kirito cut in.

"He's a man I met long before the MWO incident." Yugi explained. "He claims to be part of an order that's supposed to protect the Millennium Items."

"So is this guy a friend of yours?" Asuna asked.

"Not exactly." Yugi answered. "When I first met him, he wanted to test my power and ended up putting me and my friends in danger."

"Yeah! He turned Anzu into a doll and sent a zombie professor to kill me!" Joey added.

"But what's Shadi doing in this game?" Anzu wondered. "And where did he get those amulets he gave to Kirito and Asuna?"

"Whatever's going on, I can't really complain about it since those two dragons saved us." Kirito pointed out. "Right now I'm wondering more about those goblins we ran into. They didn't seem like ordinary NPCs."

"I know what you mean. They seemed so human from the way they acted." Asuna agreed.

"Hey Yui, you can tell the difference between a player and an NPC, right?" Kirito asked. "Did those two goblins register as players to you?"

"They didn't read as players, but there was something odd about them." Yui replied from Kirito's pocket. "Their behavior seemed a little too complex for ordinary NPCs, and something about their tracking data seemed off."

"Something about those goblins just isn't right." Yugi decided.

"Well whatever's going on, I think we should head back to town and log out for the night." Honda suggested.

"Honda's right." Kirito agreed. "It's late, and we've still got eight keys to try and find."

"Alright then, let's go." Yugi replied. And with that, the team began to head out of the forest.

* * *

Bakura sat atop his throne looking into a crystal ball that was floating in the air a few feet in front of them. Leafa's remain light continued to burn in the caldron next to him. The doors of the throne room opened and Kyra walked in.

The female goblin kneeled down before the throne. "Sire, I have grave news. I was unable to obtain the key, and what's worse is that Garm has perished."

"I know. I was watching the whole battle." Bakura revealed.

"Those damn fairy folk." Kyra cursed. "They can come back from the dead if they're killed, but when we goblins die it's forever."

"You'll have your chance to avenge Garm when the time comes." Bakura indifferently told her. "For now, go get some rest. You're done for the night."

"Yes, sire." Kyra responded before getting back to her feet and leaving the room.

As soon as Kyra left, Bakura began to chuckle. "Well, it looks like I've lost one of my loyal subjects. Ah well, there are still two hundred and ninety-nine more where he came from."

* * *

**Author's Note:** For those who don't know, Stardust Spark Dragon and Moonlight Rose Dragon are the manga counterparts to Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Dragon. I had a major debate with myself about having them show up in this series. But I figured that since they wouldn't be showing up as Duel Monsters cards it would be okay. As for killing off Garm, that was kind of an on the spot decision. I wasn't planing to do it originally, but I got kinda sick writing for him since he was just kind of a generic thug. I didn't put as much thought into his creation as I did with Kyra.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	8. War for the Keys

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 7: War for the Keys

The afternoon following their victory over the Pumpking and their confrontation with Kyra and Garm, Yugi and the rest of the team logged back into ALO and headed for the location of the next key closets to their position. The location of that key was a large castle made of grey stone known simply as the Castle of Pain. From the looks of the structure, the castle looked like had been abandoned for several years. Vines were growing all over its walls and the statues that decorated the outer walls had fallen into disrepair. The inside of the castle was far worse. The tapestries decorating the walls were torn and covered with dust, and cobwebs decorated the windows.

The team's journey through the halls of the castle had not been all that hazardous. They had run into a few monsters, but they were easily dispatched. It wasn't until they got to the castle's throne room when things started to become dangerous. As soon as the team had entered the room, they encountered the boss guarding the next key, The Earl of Demise. The Earl was a humanoid zombie-like creature with blue skin. He was dressed in a red old-fashion suit with a yellow collar, and in his right hand he carried a single rapier. Just as Yugi and the others were about to confront the Earl, the undead nobleman raised his sword in the air and growled. Soon after, several more monsters had appeared in the throne room. They were all living suits of armor, each one carrying a sword and shield and lacking a head.

In moments, Yugi and the others had begun fighting off the Headless Knights and Asuna had made her way towards the Earl. Very soon she and the Earl had become engaged in a fencing match. The battle raged on for almost five minutes as Asuna managed to get the Earl to a bar and a half of HP. At the same time, Kirito and the others continued to fight off the army of headless knights that continued to enter the throne room.

"Man! I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up!" Honda told the others as she shot two more knights in the chest with his pistols.

"Don't worry! I'm sure Asuna's close to wrapping things up!" Kirito assured him as he slashed at another knight with his sword.

Meanwhile Asuna's sword fight with the Earl continued. The undead nobleman managed to strike Asuna's chest, taking her HP gauge into the red zone.

"That's it! I'm through playing around!" Asuna declared. "Appear now, Moonlight Rose Dragon!"

A beam of red light shot from Asuna's amulet and went behind her to take the form of Moonlight Rose Dragon. The dragon's sudden appearance caused the Earl to pause. Asuna took the nobleman's surprise as an opening and charged in to deliver several blows with her sword. At the same time, Moonlight Rose Dragon began to deliver several strikes with her tails. The attacks were so rapid that the Earl was unable to counter, and in a matter of seconds his HP went to zero. The Earl shattered into polygons upon being defeated, as did his army of undead knights. Asuna received a notification that she had obtained the next key. With the battle at an end, Moonlight Rose Dragon vanished.

"You okay?" Kirito asked Asuna as he walked up to her.

"Yeah. These boss battles aren't as bad when you know you won't actually be killed if you lose." Asuna answered. "Still, that boss was a tough one."

"Maybe you should've used that dragon of yours sooner." Joey remarked. "But whatever. I just hope the next boss we run into doesn't have an army of small fry monsters backing him up."

"We should head back to town and figure out which key to go after next." Yugi told them all.

With that, Yugi used healing spells on the others before they headed out of the castle. By the time they had gotten outside the sun was already beginning to set.

Just as the team was about to take flight, Yui suddenly flew out of Kirito's pocket. "Daddy! I'm detecting several more player signals coming toward us!"

"What? Where are they, Yui?" Kirito asked.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a female voice spoke from above. Kirito and the others looked up to see Ember hovering above them with twenty other salamander warriors clad in red armor. "Long time no see, general starhead."

"Ember!" Yugi responded.

"Wait, isn't she the player you save Sugu from when you entered the game?" Kirito recalled.

"Looks like you've got yourself quite the little team." Ember observed as she looked over the party below her. "Including a turncoat salamander. My guys and I are gonna enjoy mopping the floor with him."

"Yeah? Well bring it on!" Joey dared.

"What do you want, Ember?" Yugi demanded to know.

"What the hell do you think we want? Word is you've been collecting the keys to get into the World Tree and face the Goblin King." Ember replied. "But I've got news for ya. The salamanders are the only ones worthy of beating the Goblin King and taking the ultimate prize. Which is why we've come to take any keys you might have on ya. So hand 'em over!"

"There's no way in hell we're giving up these keys!" Kirito told her as he drew is sword.

"Figured you'd say that." Ember replied with a cocky grin. "Looks like we're gonna have a bloodbath on our hands."

"Ember! You don't know what's truly at stake on this game!" Yugi told her. "The Goblin King has lied to you and all the other players!"

"As if I'm gonna buy that line." Ember scoffed. "Nothing you say is gonna make me back down."

"Then get ready for you and your guys to get your butts kicked!" Joey declared.

"You've got spunk, turncoat. I'll give ya that." Ember admitted. "But you're dreaming if you think you and those friends of yours have a chance of getting out of this without a scratch. Tell ya what, though. If you'll hand over any keys your friends have and join us, I'm sure you'll be given a cut of the ultimate prize. You are a salamander like us, after all. It's only natural that you join us."

"Like hell!" Joey told her. "There's no way I'd ever turn my back on my friends!"

"Oh well, I tried." Ember responded with a shrug. "Okay guys, let 'em have it!"

Ember's warriors flew down towards the team and prepared to attack. Before they could get in range though, Kirito chanted a spell that cast a grey mist over the battlefield. The mist quickly cleared and Kirito and the others had vanished.

"Where the hell did they go?" one of Ember's men asked as he and his fellow soldiers began looking around.

"Don't let your guard down! They couldn't have gotten very far!" Ember told them.

Suddenly a blade of blue fames came down from the right and struck one of Ember's men, taking out over half his HP. Joey flew in and slashed that same soldier across the chest, dropping his HP to zero and reducing him to a red fireball. Soon after, a massive ball of gold energy came down from above and exploded, taking out three more of the salamander soldiers. Ember and the others looked up and saw Honda hovering above with his rifle aimed down at them.

"Spread out and take 'em!" Ember ordered.

The soldiers dispersed and began to fly towards Joey and Honda. Joey began fighting another one of the soldiers unaware that a second one was moving in to attack him from behind. But before that soldier could land an attack, Kirito quickly moved in and took him down with a single slash of his blade.

Joey glanced back and noticed what Kirito had done after dispatching the soldier he was fighting. "Thanks Kirito. I owe ya one."

"Don't worry about it." Kirito replied. "Let's just finish these guys off."

Another one of Ember's men froze upon hearing the spriggan warrior's name. "Wait, Kirito? As in Kirito the Black Swordsman?"

"Hey Blazer, what the hell are you mumbling about?" Ember asked the soldier.

"But… if that's the Black Swordsman, than that must mean…" the soldier known as Blazer continued, seemingly ignoring Ember's question. "Oh crap! These guys are the Warriors of Unity!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ember demanded to know.

"I'm a survivor of MWO, and these guys were one of the two top guilds in that game!" Blazer explained. "Maybe I can't actually die in this game, but there's no way in hell I'm fighting these guys! I'm outta here!" And with that, Blazer flew off as fast as his wings could carry him.

"Hey! Come back here, you damn pansy!" Ember furiously ordered.

Suddenly Ember noticed a bright flash above her position. She looked up and saw Yugi and Dark Magician with Anzu and Honda. An attack from the legendary wizard had just taken out two more of Ember's soldiers. Anzu began playing a tune on her harp that was sending musical notes made of yellow light at four more of the soldiers. Their movements seemed to slow as the music bombarded them. Honda aimed his rifle at the tranquilized soldiers and took them out with a single shot.

"Take flight, Stardust Spark Dragon!" Kirito called.

A beam of blue light shot from Kirito's amulet and took the form of the white dragon. Stardust Spark Dragon shrieked and caused many of the remaining soldiers to freeze. After a moment, most of them overcame their shock and charged at Kirito's dragon only for it to blow them away with a beam of blue light being shot from his mouth. On Yugi's command, Dark Magician and took out Ember's two remaining soldiers.

"Aw dammit!" Ember cursed.

Suddenly Asuna flew in from behind and attempted to strike Ember. Ember noticed in time and turned to block the attack with her sword.

"So, you wanna piece of this, bitch? Well bring it on!" Ember dared.

Asuna blocked the swing of Ember's sword and then got in several strikes with her own, taking her HP into the yellow zone. Ember swung her sword at Asuna again, but the blue-haired fairy flew back and easily avoided the attack.

"Stand still, dammit!" the redheaded fairy cursed as she attempted to land another blow.

Asuna blocked Ember's sword and hit her with several more rapid strikes. Ember's HP dropped to zero and began to shout a word staring with an F before turning into a ball of red flames. With the battle at an end, Dark Magician and Stardust Spark Dragon vanished.

"That was actually kinda easy." Honda remarked as he slung his rifle back over his shoulder.

"Did ya see how that one guy ran off?" Joey asked with a grin. "He was totally scared of us."

"I guess our rep from MWO has carried over to this game too." Anzu observed.

"Daddy! I'm picking up more player signatures heading our way!" Yui informed Kirito as she popped out of his pocket.

Kirito didn't have to ask where those players were coming from. He and the others could see at least thirty more fairies flying towards them in the distance.

"Aw man! We've gotta fight more goons coming after the keys?" Joey complained.

"Wait! These players aren't our enemies." Yugi told them. "Look at their wings."

Kirito and the others took a good look at the wings of the approaching army. Very quickly they saw that the wings of those fairies were colored green.

"Are those the sylphs?" Asuna asked.

"Yes. And it seems their leader is here as well." Yugi observed, noting that Sakuya was in the lead position.

The sylph solders stopped a few feet from where Kirito and the others were hovering. Sakuya and Yugi flew towards one another and met half way between the two groups.

"I didn't expect to run into here, Sakuya." Yugi told her.

"I heard that the salamanders had sent a team to come after you and thought I'd bring some backup." Sakuya explained. "Though it seems that you didn't need it. From the looks of things, it seems you didn't need my help at all. That's an interesting-looking team you've got there."

"They're friends of mine from the real world." Yugi explained.

"I see." Sakuya replied. "Well it certainly seems like they're pretty strong. So have you been able to get your hands on any of the keys to the World Tree?"

"So far my friends and I have gotten two of them." Yugi answered. "How about the teams you and Alicia sent to the other locations."

"No luck, I'm afraid." Sakuya informed him. "They've been having to fight off other players trying to get the keys for themselves. And from the way things have been going, it looks like the salamanders are closer to getting into the World Tree than anyone else. They've already gotten their hands on three of the keys."

"They've gotten three of the keys already?" a shocked Yugi responded.

Sakuya nodded. "Two of the keys they got from actually raiding the hiding places. But they took the third one from another player. If you and your friends hadn't been able to fight off that group that came after you, the salamanders would now have five of the keys."

"I was afraid it would come to this." Yugi spoke. "Now the only way to get into the World Tree is to fight the salamanders for the keys they have."

"That's pretty much the reality." Sakuya agreed. "I suppose we could try to negotiate with them, but I don't think it'd get us anywhere. What do you suggest we do?"

"I think for now, the only thing we can do now is get to the keys that re still out there before the salamanders or anyone else." Yugi answered. "We can worry about facing the salamanders when the time comes."

"Alright then. Alicia and I will see if we can strike a deal some of the leaders of the other races to help out." Sakuya replied. "In the meantime, you and your friends just keep trying your best."

"I will. Thank you." Yugi replied.

With that, Sakuya rejoined her soldiers and flew off. Yugi flew back and rejoined the others.

"So what's the deal, Yugi?" Joey asked.

"I'm afraid things have gotten far worse." Yugi informed them. "The salamanders have now gotten three of the keys to the World Tree."

"But then how are we supposed to get in?" Anzu asked.

"The only way now is to fight the salamanders for those keys." Kirito realized. "Dammit, we don't have time for this! Kaiba's going to pull the plug on this game in a few days, and if that happens Sugu might get hurt or worse!"

"There are still four more keys out there." Honda pointed out. "I guess all we can do is go after them."

"Honda's right." Yugi told them. "For now, all we can do is keep things from getting worse. But I'm afraid that the quest for the keys has already turned into a war."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I apologize for sort of skimming over Asuna's battle with The Earl of Demise. I didn't really feel like doing an overly long chapter, especially since I have somewhere to be later today. Anyway, we won't be seeing the boss fight for every key in this story, partly because of all the other players going after them. Another big reason though is because Kirito and the others will be going on a somewhat similar quest in the eventual MWO3 story.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	9. An Offline Duel

**Author's Note:** I had meant to get this chapter up yesterday, but the town where I live was hit by a huge storm with strong winds and golfball-sized hail (plus I ended up spending a good chunk of the afternoon reading manga online). I wasn't even sure that I'd be able to get this chapter done today with all the cleanup stuff I had to help with.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 8: An Offline Duel

After their encounter with Ember and her troops, Kirito and the others had decided to log out of ALO for the day. The evening had grown late, and despite only having a couple of days left to save Sugu and the other trapped players they needed to take a break and rethink some of their strategy. The fact that the salamanders had gotten their hands on three of the nine keys needed to enter the World Tree had made things even more difficult than they already were. Taking Asuna's family car, Kirito and Asuna went into Domino City to meet with Yugi and the others at a local burger joint. By the time the couple had arrived, Regular Yugi and the others were already waiting for them at a large table.

"Glad you guys could make it." Joey greeted as Kirito and Asuna approached the table.

"No problem." Kirito replied as he and his girlfriend sat down. "Things really have gotten a lot more complicated, haven't they?"

"No kidding." Honda replied. "How they heck are we supposed to collect the remaining keys and fight the salamanders for those three keys they've already got in just a couple of days?"

"Yugi, couldn't we try reasoning with the salamanders?" Anzu asked. "Maybe we could make some kind of deal with them or something."

"It's a nice thought, but I don't think it'll work." Regular Yugi replied. "The salamander players are the most aggressive players in the game. They'd rather fight the other eight types of fairies and take their keys than make some kind of deal."

"Boy! Those guys take the game way too seriously." Joey remarked.

"Seems like all the players in ALO are like that." Honda observed.

"It's not really all that surprising when you think about it." Kirito chimed in. "A lot of players pretty much become someone else while playing an online game like ALO. It's natural that they'd take the game pretty seriously."

"Still, players like that are a little scary when you think about it." Asuna pointed out. "Especially for those of us who survived MWO."

"The thing I'm kinda worried about right now is how we're even going to find the keys that the salamanders have already taken." Kirito spoke. "They could be keeping them anywhere."

"Yeah, and wherever they're holding them is probably gonna be pretty well guarded." Joey added. "Either way, we're gonna have a pretty big fight on our hands."

"Well, well. If it isn't the four dweebs of Domino High plus two." A familiar voice spoke.

Kirito and the others looked, and approaching them was a freckle-faced young woman blowing a pink bubblegum bubble from her mouth. She had green eyes and long black hair that spilled down out of the hood of the navy blue sweatshirt she was wearing. The rest of her outfit consisted of red tennis shoes and a pair of cutoff denim jean shorts.

"You guys know this person?" Asuna asked Regular Yugi and the others.

"Sort of. That's Rika Komatsu from our old school." Anzu answered. "We're not exactly friends though."

"Please Mazaki, there's no need to introduce me to your new buddies." The young woman told her. "We already met earlier tonight."

It took Kirito a moment to realize who Rika was. "Ember!"

"You're pretty sharp." Ember replied, confirming her identity. "Boy. I should've guessed that general starhead of the sylphs was actually little Yugi Muto when I saw that hair of his in the game. But I didn't put it together until that pansy Blazer said that you were survivors of MWO. I gotta say, you guys have got balls for going into another VRMMO after the crap you must've been through."

"We've got our reasons for going back in." Kirito replied. "So I guess it wasn't too hard for you to figure out who we were since our avatars look pretty close to our real selves."

"Yeah, I knew you were that annoying spriggan the moment I saw you in this place." Ember replied before turning to Asuna. "And you're that undine bitch who offed me in that last battle."

"You better watch your mouth!" Kirito warned as he suddenly rose from his chair.

"Or what, you'll clean it out with soap?" Ember responded with a cocky grin. "You better take it easy, punk. I could break your arm if I wanted to. But I didn't come to fight."

"So why are you here?" Anzu asked.

"I came to ask you to hand over those keys you got." Ember explained.

"We're not in ALO right now." Asuna reminded her. "This isn't the place for you to make demands like that."

"In other words, leave the game in the game, huh?" Ember replied. "You're one to talk. I overheard you guys chitchatting about the keys when I walked in. So the way I see it, asking for you to hand over the keys in the real world is fair game."

"Rika, we can't just hand over those keys to you." Anzu told her. "There's a very important reason why we're trying to get those keys."

"Save it, Mazaki." Ember told her. "I don't give a damn what your reason is. I'm getting my hands on those keys one way or another."

"So what, are you gonna fight us here for 'em?" Joey asked.

"Please, I'm not that brutal." Ember replied as she put the brown bag that was slung over her shoulder down on the table. "I figured out a way that won't be as messy. I won this little gizmo at a mall raffle Kaiba Corp held a couple of days ago."

The object that Ember pulled out of the bag was a disc-like device with a folded tray attached and some kind of counter on the top. The dark-hared girl put the device on her wrist and inserted a deck of cards into the front of it.

"I'm sure at least two of you guys know what this is." Ember assumed.

"What the… you've got a duel disk?" a surprised Joey observed.

"That's right. I know that starhead was a champion _Duel Monsters_ player before the whole MWO thing happened." Ember replied. "I've actually just started playing the game myself. So here's the deal. I'm gonna challenge starhead to a duel. If I win, you'll hand over the keys to me the next time you're in ALO. But if I lose, we'll just forget this little meeting ever happened. What do you say?"

Yugi was bathed in a golden light from his puzzle has his heroic persona took over. "You're on, Ember!"

"Yugi, are you sure about this?" Kirito asked.

"It'll be fine, Kirito." Yugi confidently assured him as he pulled his own duel disc out of his backpack. "Besides, I've never been one to turn down a challenge."

"Why don't we take this outside?" Ember suggested. "I don't wanna make a mess of this place."

With that, Yugi and the others exited the restaurant and went out to the parking lot. Yugi and Ember took their positions to face one another while Kirito and the rest of the group stood to the side to watch. The two duelists activated their duel discs and drew their opening hands.

"By the way, we'll be playing by the rules of that new Battle City tournament that's starting up soon." Ember told Yugi.

"Fine by me." Yugi agreed.

"I'll start this off." Ember decided as she drew her first card. "First I'll set a card face down. Next I play I play the Spell card, Card Destruction! Now we each have to discard our whole hand and draw a new one. That ends my turn."

Yugi drew his first card. "I summon Big Shield Guardna in Defense Mode!"

Appearing on Yugi's side of the battlefield in a kneeling position was a muscular warrior with tan skin and long black hair that went down to his waist. He had on a sleeveless pink shirt and long tan pants with brown leather boots. In front of him, the warrior held up a large purple shield with gold trim.

"Next I activate the Spell card, Polymerization!" Yugi announced. "From my hand, I combine Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts with Baphomet to summon Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!"

Two more monsters materialized on Yugi's side of the battlefield. One was a muscular lion with a black mane and a horn on its head. The other was a muscular demon with four arms and a mane of black hair. On the sides of the demon's head was a pair of curved horns, and on his back was a pair of white-feathered wings. The two monsters jumped up into a small vortex that had appeared right above the battlefield. Emerging from the vortex was a lion-like creature with the heads of Gazelle and Baphomet. Its tail had the head of a snake on the end, on of its back was Baphomet's wings.

"I'll set one card on the field and end my turn!" Yugi announced.

"That looks like a pretty powerful monster Yugi just summoned." Kirito observed. "But I don't get why he didn't attack. Can you not attack other players when they don't have any monsters on the field?"

"You can thanks to the rules of Kaiba's tournament." Honda answered. "But I don't see why Yugi held back, since Ember's wide open."

"It could be the card that Ember has out on the field is some kind of trap." Asuna theorized.

"It's not that. It's because monsters summoned using Polymerization can't attack on their first turn thanks to Kaiba's new rules." Joey explained. "But you're probably right, Asuna. Ember must be planning something."

"That's a pretty nasty cat you got there, starhead." Ember remarked as she drew her next card. "Too bad it's about to be burnt to a crisp. I activate the card I set on the field earlier, Monster Reborn! With this card, I summon one of the monsters I sent to the Graveyard with Card Destruction earlier, Tri-Horned Dragon!"

Appearing on Ember's side of the battlefield was a large wingless dragon covered in blue scales. It had red eyes and a long snout with a mouth full of fangs. On its hands and feet were long yellow claws, and it had a row of yellow spikes growing from its back. On the top of its head grew three short yellow horns.

"This dragon is the best card I've got right now." Ember revealed. "And with an ATK of 2850, this baby's more than enough to finish off your Chimera. Tri-Horned Dragon, fry Chimera with Wicked Dragon Flame!"

Tri-Horned Dragon opened its fanged mouth and spewed out a stream of purple flames. The flames struck Chimera and burnt the mythical creature to a crisp, causing its body to shatter into bits of golden light and vanish. Yugi's life points took a slight drop to 3350.

"When Chimera's destroyed, I can summon one of the monsters used to create it back to the field!" Yugi announced. "I summon Baphomet back to the field in Defense Mode!" Baphomet reappeared in the same spot that Chimera previously hovered.

"Trying to build a wall to protect yourself, huh?" Ember observed. "Well feel free to put out as many monsters as you want. My dragon and I will just burn all of 'em to the ground. I'll end my turn."

Yugi drew his next card and smirked. "It's over, Ember. This duel's mine."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ember scoffed.

"I had a feeling that the card you set on the field earlier was Monster Reborn." Yugi revealed. "The only reason I could se for you to discard your whole hand after setting a card on the field was if you were planning to summon a powerful monster from the Graveyard, one that you would normally need to summon by sacrificing lower level monsters thanks to the Battle City rules. So I prepared a combo to counter that move, and just now I've drawn the key card to make it work."

"Wait, what?" Ember exclaimed.

"I sacrifice Baphomet to summon Dark Magician Girl!" Yugi announced.

Baphomet shattered into bits of light and a small twister appeared on the field. The twister quickly subsided to reveal a young woman with blonde hair and fair skin, wearing a blue curved conical hat with pink trim and a sleeveless blue outfit with a short pink skirt. She also had on a pair of blue boots, and in her hand she carried a short pink and gold wand.

"Whoa! I've never seen Yugi play that card before!" Joey remarked.

"So is that monster Dark Magician's girlfriend or something?" Honda asked.

"No, she's more like Dark Magician's apprentice." Asuna answered.

"How the heck do you know that?" Joey inquired.

"I… I don't know." Asuna replied. "It's just a feeling I get."

"Big deal. That cute little magical girl of yours only has 2000 ATK." Ember pointed out. "There's no way she can beat my dragon."

"I activate my face-down card, Magical Dimension!" Yugi announced. "Since I have Dark Magician Girl on the field, I can sacrifice Big Shield Guardna to summon another Spellcaster monster from my hand!"

Dark Magician Girl waved her wand and an explosion of pink smoke covered Yugi's side of the field. The smoke cleared, and in Big Shield Guardna's place was an ornate gold sarcophagus held in place by a wireframe. Sticking through the middle of the sarcophagus was Dark Magician Girl.

"Come forth… Dark Magician!" Yugi called.

Dark Magician Girl quickly removed herself from the coffin as it opened up. Yugi's ace monster emerged from the box to stand beside his apprentice.

"Big whop. So now you have another monster with 2500 ATK." Ember scoffed. "He's still not strong enough to beat my dragon."

"But Magical Dimension has another effect you've yet to witness." Yugi continued. "In addition to letting me summon another Spellcaster from my hand, Magical Dimension also lets me destroy one monster my opponent controls. And the monster I choose to destroy is your Tri-Horned Dragon!"

The two magicians aimed their wands and shot Tri-Horned Dragon with blasts of black and pink energy. The dragon roared in pain before shattering into bits of light and vanishing.

All the color drained from Ember's face. "No… no way! How the hell could this have happened?"

"If you had taken the time to put out cards that could've protected your dragon, you probably wouldn't be in this situation." Yugi told her. "Let this be the price you pay for your arrogance. Dark Magician and Dark Magican Girl, attack her directly! Dark Burning Magic!"

Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl brought their two wands together and shot Ember with a swirling blast of black and pink energy. The force of the attack knocked Ember to the ground and took her life points from 4000 to zero. Cards from Ember's duel disc spilled out of her duel disc. With the duel at an end, Yugi's two magicians vanished.

"You mentioned before that you've only just started playing _Duel Monsters_." Yugi recalled. "As a duelist you have potential, but a simple strategy like the one you used against me will only get you so far."

"Shove it!" Ember responded with a scowl as she got up and began picking up her cards. "You may have won this little battle, but the next time we see each other in ALO you and your little pals are dead."

With that, Ember finished picking up her deck and began to walk off. Though she did stop for a moment to glare at Asuna and Kirito.

"She's starting to become a pain in the neck." Asuna remarked as soon as Ember was gone.

"She's even more unfriendly than when we knew her at school." Anzu replied. "I guess playing ALO has really brought out the worst in her."

"I'm pretty sure we're going to run into Ember again the next time we're in ALO." Kirito assumed.

"Yes, and in that game she's a very dangerous opponent." Yugi replied. "Our quest to save Sugu just keeps getting more dangerous."

* * *

**Author's Note:** The duel just shown in this chapter will be the only card game duel shown in this story. I had decided to have at least one _Duel Monsters_ battle between Yugi and someone else during the planing stages. Originally there was going to be a duel in chapter one. But I couldn't figure out how to fit it in real well, so that duel was pretty much cut. This duel on the other hand seemed to be the perfect way for Kirito and the others to encounter Ember in the real world. There will be more duels though in the story that bridges this one with MWO3.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	10. Secret of the Goblin Race

**Author's Note:** Apologies for not updating this story for the last few days. That hailstorm that hit my town really caused a lot of damage to my house. I spent two or three afternoons picking up pieces of siding in my yard. So between that, my online class, and some other stuff I had to take care of I didn't have any time to work on this story. The good news though is that I should be able to get a couple more chapters done this week.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 9: Secret of the Goblin Race

It was a dreary grey morning as Kirito went with Asuna to go visit Sugu in the hospital. The couple knew that it was only Sugu's comatose body that was in the hospital. Her mind was trapped somewhere in a world made of ones and zeros in a place that was out of there reach. Yet at the moment, Kirito knew that visiting Sugu in the hospital was the closest he could be to her. At least until he and the others could rescue her from Bakura's clutches. And time was quickly running out for them to do that.

As Kirito and Asuna walked down the hall towards Sugu's room, they spotted a man with brown hair wearing a grey suit with a dark-blue tie. Kirito and Asuna instantly recognized the man as one of their fellow veterans from the game of MWO, Thinker.

"Hey Thinker." Kirito greeted as he and Asuna approached.

"Oh, hello you two." Thinker greeted back. "What brings the two of you here?"

"We're here visiting my sister." Kirito explained. "It's kind of a long story."

"I take it you're here visiting Yulier." Asuna assumed, referring to Thinker's girlfriend from MWO. "Still no change, I'm guessing."

"No, she's still in a coma." Thinker confirmed with a sad expression. "I still don't understand how something like this could've happened. MWO came to an end, and yet there are still people that are trapped in comas."

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll come back soon." Kirito assured him.

"Well… I'm just glad that Yulier wasn't the one trapped player who died recently." Thinker replied.

"Wait, one of the trapped players died?" a surprised Asuna asked.

"Yes, apparently his NerveGear just suddenly fried his brain." Thinker answered. "They haven't released very much about this person's identity to the public. But when I first heard that one of those players suddenly died, I almost had a heart attack thinking it might've been Yulier."

"Do they know what caused this guy's NerveGear to fry his brain?" Kirito asked.

"Not as far as I know. Kaiba Corp is keeping this whole thing pretty quiet." Thinker replied. "Well, I need to get back to work. Feel free to drop in on Yulier after you're done visiting your sister."

With that, Thinker continued his way down the hall. Kirito and Asuna stood where they were thinking about this shocking development. The fact that one of the trapped players had suddenly died was a very bad sign.

"Kazuto… do you think that player dying has anything to do with what's going on in ALO?" Asuna asked.

"I don't know. But I've got a very bad feeling." Kirito answered. "Let's just go visit Sugu right now. We'll tell Yugi and the others about this when we see them in the game later."

Asuna nodded and the two of them continued down the hall to Sugu's room. When the two of them arrived, they found that the door was open a crack. Kirito pushed the door open to find someone standing by Sugu's bed. He had olive skin and wore a turban with long tan robes. Hanging by his neck by a leather string was a large golden key in the shape of an ankh.

"Who are you?" Kirito demanded to know, getting the stranger's attention.

"Kazuto, that's the shopkeeper from ALO who gave us those amulets!" Asuna quickly recalled.

"You're name's Shadi, right?" Kirito asked the stranger. "What're you doing in Sugu's room?"

"I see that the Pharaoh has told you about me." Shadi replied, confirming his identity. "I have come here to warn you, protectors of the Pharaoh. There are many trials that are still ahead of you."

"Protectors of the Pharaoh? Why are you calling us that?" Asuna asked.

"It is not mere chance that caused you to meet one another and the Pharaoh in that electronic world." Shadi told them. "The two of you were fated to meet and aid the Pharaoh in his final trial. Your quest to save this girl and the others trapped by the evil one is only the beginning."

"What's this final trial you're talking about?" Kirito asked.

"You will find out in time." Shadi replied as he walked past them out of the room. "The wheels of fate have already been set in motion."

"Wait a minute!" Kirito called as he rushed out of the room to catch Shadi. But by the time the time he was out the door, the mystic had vanished.

"Is he gone?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah, it's like he just vanished." Kirito answered. "Looks like we've got one more thing to tell Yugi about."

* * *

Kyra sat at the bar of a tavern that had been built onto one of the large branches of the World Tree. It was a dimly lit tavern, the only light coming from eerie green lanterns hanging on the walls. All around, more of Kyra's fellow goblins were laughing and roughhousing with one another. It was the sort of thing that got on Kyra's nerves quite often, especially at the moment since she was still in a foul mood about Garm's recent death. But there was no other place to drink atop the World Tree, and Kyra needed to unwind.

"Mind if I join you?" someone asked as Kyra took another swig from her glass of ale.

Kyra looked to her right to find that some had already taken the barstool next to hers. It was a fairly young-looking goblin woman with long white hair tied back in a ponytail. She had on a long black cape with a long-sleeved black shirt and silver chest and shoulder armor. The rest of her outfit consisted of a short black skirt with knee-high black leather boots.

"Hello, Yulla." Kyra greeted in a very displeased tone.

"Well you're certainly in a grumpy mood." Yulla. "But I guess that's understandable considering what happened to Garm. Though I didn't think you'd be this broken up about it."

"I couldn't stand that oaf." Kyra told her. "But he was still my comrade in battle. Besides, the fact that another one of our kind is dead angers me to no end."

"I know what you mean. There are so few of us goblins left that it's a tragedy when any one of us dies." Yulla observed. "All the more reason for us to stick together, don't you think?"

"What the hell do you want?" Kyra asked.

"I have splendid news for you, dear Kyra. The king has personally assigned me to be your new partner." Yulla revealed with an overly cheerful smile. "Isn't that just wonderful?"

"I'm thrilled." Kyra sarcastically replied as she took another swig from her cup.

Kyra could never stand Yulla in any way. While she did find her fellow goblin to be very attractive, Yulla's annoyingly cheerful attitude and shallow nature had always gotten on Kyra's nerves.

"Of course don't think that this means you'll be taking me to the bed chamber, Kyra dear." Yulla teased. "You know very well that I don't share your interest in other women."

"I would rather have my eyes poked out by sharp iron rods than take you to my bed." Kyra told her.

"Well then, now that have all that settled I'll tell you about our mission." Yulla replied. "Our king wishes us to go after the general of the sylphs and take the keys he and his followers have."

"I'm fine with that mission." Kyra replied as she finished her glass. "It'll give me a chance to get back at them for killing one of our kind."

* * *

Kirito and Asuna logged back into ALO and materialized in their room an inn located in a neutral village in the game. They found Yugi and the rest of the team waiting for them in the lobby. As soon as they met up, Kirito told Yugi about the death of the trapped MWO player and of their encounter with Shadi.

"So Shadi thinks that the two of you are connected to my destiny somehow." Yugi spoke after Kirito finished his tale.

"Do you think there's any truth to that?" Asuna asked.

"I don't know. But it seems that Bakura probably thinks the same thing." Yugi answered. "I'm that's his main reason for forcing us to play this game of his."

"I'm more worried about that MWO player who got his brain fried." Honda interjected. "You think Bakura might have something to do with that?"

"I'm sure he does somehow." Yugi replied. "But what troubles me is why this man might've died."

"From what Thinker told us, it looks like it might've happened not long after we started this quest." Kirito recalled. "The timing of that guy's death is giving me a pretty bad feeling."

"Yes, it's giving me a bad feeling as well." Yugi agreed.

"Look, why don't we just focus on getting the next key right now?" Anzu suggested. "I'm sure we can figure out whatever happened to that player later."

"Anzu's right. We don't have a lot of time left." Yugi agreed. "The important thing right now is stopping Bakura and saving Sugu."

With that, Kirito and the rest of the team left the inn and flew off towards the location of the next key. Over halfway towards their destination, Yui poked her head out of Kirito's pocket to let the team know that she was detecting other players near them. It wasn't long after that when the team saw at least twenty-one salamander soldiers flying towards them. Ember was in the lead. In moments, the two groups came to a stop in midair to face one another.

"You knew this was coming, starhead." Ember told Yugi. "Now hand over all the keys you and your pals got on ya, or it's gonna be a bloodbath!"

"Do we really gotta do this again?" Joey asked. "You'd think after the way Yugi kicked your butt last night you'd have learned something by now."

"Yeah, this is starting to get real old." Honda agreed. "Just do yourself and your guys a favor Ember and get lost."

"Like hell!" Ember told them. "Now hand over the keys or else!"

"I have a better idea." A familiar voice interrupted. "Why don't all of you hand over any keys you have to us."

Kirito and the others looked and saw Kyra fly down from above with Yulla. Yulla was standing atop to back of a large demonic swan with black feathers. Yugi and the others were all shocked upon seeing Yulla.

"Is… is that…?" Anzu began to ask.

"That goblin with Kyra… is Yulier!" Asuna responded.

"Yulier, is that really you?" Kirito asked as he flew in closer.

"Yulier? I don't know who you're talking about." Yulla responded. "I am Yulla, a proud and noble warrior of the goblin people. Obviously you have me confused with someone else. Though I can hardly imagine anyone else who would have my gorgeous face."

"What the hell's going here?" Joey wondered. "It's like she think's she's someone else."

"Enough talk! Hand over the keys or die!" Kyra ordered.

"Like hell!" one of the salamanders responded. "We're gonna make you goblins regret coming after us, right commander?" The soldier looked when Ember didn't respond. "Commander?"

All of the color had drained from Ember's face. She looked as though she was in a daze. Slowly, the female salamander flew towards Kyra.

"So, have you come to do battle with me personally, salamander?" Kyra asked as a small smirk came to her face. "You certainly are one of the most beautiful salamander women I've seen. Quite an athletic figure you have there. How would you like to become a part of the harem I plan to put together?"

"Kato… Kato is that you?" Ember asked the goblin.

"Kato?" Kyra repeated with a quirked brow. "I think you're a little confused. I don't know who this person you speak of is."

"Kato it's me, Rika!" Ember told her. "Don't you recognize me?"

"I honestly never seen you before in my life." Kyra told her.

"Enough of this!" one of the salamander soldiers spoke as he drew his sword. "Die, goblin!"

The soldier flew towards Kyra at full speed with his blade ready to strike. Ember quickly hit the soldier in the stomach with a roundhouse kick that stopped his charge.

"Listen, you idiots! If you wanna fight, attack the other goblin and starhead's guys!" Ember ordered. "This goblin is mine!"

"We can't let Ember's soldiers kill Yulier!" Yugi told the rest of the team. "Stop them!"

Honda grabbed his rifle and took out four of the soldiers with a single magic-powered shot. Joey swung his sword and eliminated two more with a large blade of blue flames.

"How sweet of you dear fairies to try and protect me." Yulla told them. "But I can take care of myself."

Yulla chanted an odd spell and several flaming pumpkins appeared around Ember's soldiers. The pumpkins detonated, reducing the soldiers to nothing more than balls red flame. Ember meanwhile was trying to avoid the strikes from Kyra's whip.

"You're starting to bore me with just trying to dodge my attacks." Kyra told her. "Now either fight back or die!"

"Kato, please stop!" Ember begged. "Don't you recognize me at all?"

"For the last time, I don't know who this Kato is and I've never seen you before in my life!" Kyra insisted. "Now die!"

Kyra managed to lash Ember twice in the chest. Meanwhile, Kirito and the others were occupied with dodging the blasts of black energy that Yulla was shooting from her hands.

"I've been going easy on all of you because you tried to protect me from those salamanders. Though why I have no idea." Yulla told them. "But I'm through playing around. Hand over the keys and I'll let you go."

"Yulier, just stop for a moment and think!" Asuna told her. "We met before in MWO. We helped you save Thinker, remember?"

"Thinker?" Yulla repeated as if the name sounded familiar. After a moment, she shook her head. "I have no clue what you're talking about! Now I'm sick of you people mistaking me for someone else! Just hand over those keys and I'll leave!"

Kirito's attention was caught by the sound of Ember crying out. He looked and saw that her HP gauge was in the red.

"Dammit! Take flight, Stardust Spark Dragon!" Kirito called out. A blue light shot from Kirito's amulet and took the form of his white dragon. "Protect Ember!"

Stardust Spark Dragon reared his head back and shot Ember with a beam of blue light from his mouth. Ember became shrouded in a blue aura that seemed to repel the tip of Kyra's whip. Kirito flew in and delivered several quick strikes to Ember's chest, causing the goblin's HP to fall towards the red zone. Alarmed, Ember chanted a spell and shot Kirito in the back with a red fireball.

"Okay, this is just getting bizarre." Yulla declared as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Kyra, let's get out of here! We'll get their keys another time!"

"Fine!" Kyra agreed before chanting another spell.

With Kyra's spell, the area became covered in a thick black mist. By the time the mist cleared, Kyra and Yulla were long gone. Stardust Spark Dragon vanished and Kirito and the others landed on the ground below.

"Ember, you okay?" Kirito asked as he walked up to her.

Ember responded by giving Kirito a hard slap in the face. "Screw you! If you go after Kato like that again, I'll end you both in this game and the real world!"

Before Kirito or any of the others could respond, Ember took off into the air like a rocket. Kirito breathed a heavy sigh after she was gone.

"What the hell just happened?" Joey exclaimed. "How did Yulier end up as one of those freaky goblins?"

"I'm afraid this confirms our worst fear." Yugi spoke. "Bakura is using the trapped MWO players for his goblin army."

"But how is that possible?" Anzu asked.

Before anyone venture a guess, the air suddenly became filled with a horribly familiar laugh. A black horned owl suddenly flew down from the sky and landed with an explosive puff of green smoke. The smoke cleared to reveal Bakura wearing a cape covered in black feathers.

"Hello everyone." Bakura greeted with an evil grin. "I trust you're all enjoying my little game."

"Bakura, what have you done to the players Sugou captured from MWO?" Yugi demanded to know.

"I was wondering when one of you would ask about that." Bakura responded. "One of the first things I did after I killed that fool was look into his little mind control experiments. The best his minions could do was give the players he captured vivid unending dreams. So I made a few modifications to give those players a waking dream. Right now they're sleepwalking, totally unaware of their true lives."

"What happens to these people if they killed in this game?" Asuna asked.

Bakura's grin widened. "The rules of MWO still apply to them. If any of my goblin minions die in this game, they die in the real world."

"So… when Yugi's Dark Magician defeated Garm…" Anzu began to realize.

"That's right. One of the three hundred players dropped dead." Bakura confirmed. "That was quite careless of you, Yugi."

"You bastard!" Kirito cursed as he charged at Bakura with his sword.

Before he could even get near the evil game master, he was hurled back by a barrier of green light. Bakura laughed as Asuna helped Kirito back to his feet.

"Nice try, Kirito. But the only way you can do battle with me is to reach my palace atop the World Tree." Bakura reminded him.

"I'll get there, don't worry." Kirito told him in a low hate-filled voice. "And then I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done! But let's make one thing clear. The blood of any player that dies in this game is on your hands!"

"…If you say so." Bakura replied. With that, he turned back into an owl and flew off.

"Man! Just when I think this whole thing can't get any worse." Honda spoke.

"Now because of how Bakura rigged this game, if we run into more of those goblins we can't fight 'em like they're normal monsters!" Joey realized.

"What's even worse is that all of the other players beside perhaps Ember are completely oblivious to that fact." Yugi added. "They'll attack the goblins like they're normal NPCs."

"And if they manage to kill them, the bodies will start to pile out." Kirito remarked.

"This whole game has been stacked against us." Asuna observed. "There's Kaiba's time limit and the way Bakura's spread out the keys to the World Tree. And now we can't even fight his soldiers without harming real people. How are we supposed to win?"

"We keep going. That's all we can do for now." Kirito answered. "We're not far from the next key. We get that, and then we find a way into the World Tree. We don't stop until Bakura's beaten."

"Then I guess we better get going." Anzu replied. And with that, the team took back to the sky and headed for the resting place of the next key.

* * *

**Author's Note:** After hinting that the goblins were actually the trapped MWO players, I had debated with myself a little about what would happen to them if they died in the game. In the end I decided that since Yami Bakura was behind what was going on, those players would simply die. He is totally evil, after all.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	11. Revenge of the Moonlit Black Cats

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 10: Revenge of the Moonlit Black Cats

Yugi and the others were still reeling from the revelation that Bakura was using the trapped MWO players as his goblin minions, but they still had a job to do. If they wanted to end the madness, they had to get the remaining keys to the World Tree. After a few more minutes of flying, the team finally reached the resting place of the next key. The place was a labyrinth built into the foot of a mountain known as the Crypt of Vengeful Souls. The entrance to the labyrinth was carved to look like a skull with an open mouth.

After the team entered the dark passageway, Kirito cast a spell that allowed him and the others to see in the dark. As soon as the hall was illuminated, the team noticed several skeletons of fallen warriors littering the floor around them.

"Man, why the hell does this place have to be so creepy?" Joey asked as he and the others walked on.

"Bakura's probably the one who designed this place." Honda pointed out. "You know how he likes this creepy stuff."

"I just hope this dungeon isn't too big." Asuna remarked. "It could take us awhile to find the boss room in a dungeon like this."

After a few moments the team reached the first intersection of the labyrinth. Before they could make a decision about whether to go left or right, Kirito inadvertently stepped on a switch hidden in the floor that caused the place to shake. Suddenly the passageway behind them closed up, and a wall of stone shot up from the floor right under Kirito's feet. Kirito was knocked back, and before he could get up he and Yui had become separated from the rest of the group.

"Hey!" Kirito called loudly. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine!" Asuna's voice called back through the wall. "Are you okay?"

"I think so!" Kirito replied. "What do we do now?"

"Just keep going! We'll try and get to you!" Yugi told him. "Hopefully the passages we're in will connect somewhere further into the labyrinth!"

"Got it! I'll see you guys later!" Kirito replied. And with that, he began to make his way through his part of the labyrinth.

As Kirito began walking down the passageway, Yui popped her head out of his pocket. "Daddy, how are we going to get out of here?"

"Don't worry. I'm sure once we beat the boss and get the key the passageways will open back up." Kirito assured her. "Either that, or they'll be something in the boss room that will let us go straight out of here, like a warp gate or something."

"I just wish I could be of more help right now." Yui replied. "I don't have any map data that can help us navigate this dungeon."

"Don't worry about it. You're helping me out a lot by keeping me company." Kirito told her. "Now let's meet up with your mom and find that boss room so we can get out of here."

Several minutes went by as Kirito made his way through the darkened corridors of the labyrinth. More than once he had turned down a corner that led him to a dead end, and not one passage seemed to link up with the path that Asuna and the others were on. Every now and then, Kirito and Yui would run into some of the undead sword-wielding monsters known as Goblin Zombies. The creatures were easy enough for Kirito to dispatch, but he absolutely hated dealing with them. Those same creatures were the ones responsible for killing most of his old guild from MWO, the Moonlit Black Cats.

Kirito would never forget that day for as long as he lived. That day, he and most of his friends from that small guild entered a high-level dungeon and fell into a trap where most of them were killed. Kirito barely managed to escape with one other person from the guild. And Bakura ended up killing her as soon as they left the dungeon. All of them died because Kirito hadn't been strong enough to protect them.

After what almost seemed like hours, Kirito and Yui finally reached a large stone chamber. The far wall of the room was one giant mirror. As soon as Kirito stepped into the chamber, the torches by the walls suddenly lit up with eerie green flames. Materializing in the center of the room was a bald woman with blue skin and pointed ears. Her eyes were pitch black except for a pair of small yellow lights. Parts of her body looked like they were stitched together, and her midsection was nothing more than a metal frame with gears inside it like some kind of marionette.

In her arms, the creature carried half of a naked broken doll fashioned to look like an infant. A single HP gauge appeared by the creature's head along with her name, Dark Necrofear.

"I guess this is the boss." Kirito observed. "Kinda weird that she only has one bar of HP though."

"That's not the only thing that's strange." Yui responded. "Her stats seem incredibly low for a boss-level monster. She doesn't even come close to the floor one boss of MWO."

Before Kirito could respond, Dark Necrofear fired two beams of pink light from her eyes at Kirito. Kirito quickly rolled out of the way to his right and avoided the attack. He then charged in and cut the puppet-like creature in half. Dark Necrofear's HP gauge instantly went to zero and the two halves of her body shattered into polygons. Before Kirito could comment on how easily Dark Necrofear was defeated, the doll she had been carrying hit the ground and broke apart into five balls of purple light that shot into the air before Kirito. Each of the balls turned into a fairy with chalk-white skin and pitch-black wings.

All the color drained from Kirito's face as soon as he saw the fairies. He recognized each one of them. The one hovering directly in front of Kirito was a brown-haired young man that he knew as Keita. On Keita's right was another young man with long very dark-brown hair that Kirito remembered as Sasamaru. Next to Sasamaru was a fairly tall young man with brown hair that was curved at the ends who Kirito knew as Tetsuo. Hovering on Keita's left was a young man with fairly long blonde hair known as Ducker, and next to him was a young woman with shoulder-length blue-black who Kirito knew as his first love, Sachi. The Moonlit Black Cats had returned from the dead.

Each of the five wore tattered broken versions of the outfits they had in MWO. They opened their eyes, showing that they were pitch-black with yellow lights serving as the pupils. A single HP gauge appeared by each of their heads.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" a concerned Yui asked upon noticing Kirito's reaction. "Daddy?"

"Hey there, Kirito." Keita greeted with a cruel grin. "Long time no see, huh? What's the matter? You don't look happy to see us."

"I know what's bothering him." Tetsuo spoke as he produced and axe. "He must feel bad about the way he got us all killed. Well you know what? He should be!"

With that, Tetsuo moved in and slashed Kirito's left shoulder with his axe. Kirito's HP took a slight drop, but he didn't do anything to counterattack.

"You know you're totally right, Tetsuo." Keita agreed. "I trust this guy with all your lives, and look what happened. He deserves to die!" He kicked Kirito in the chest and knocked him to the ground.

Kirito slowly got back to his feet. "I'm… I'm sorry… all of you. I-I didn't mean to…"

"Oh you're sorry, huh?" Ducker interrupted. "Well a fat lot of good that does us!"

Ducker and Sasamaru charged forward and stabbed Kirito in the chest with blades, causing his HP to drop into the yellow zone. The two withdrew and Keita and Tetsuo moved in to slash Kirito with their weapons. Kirito did nothing to fight back.

"Daddy, what are you doing?" a worried Yui asked. "Why aren't you defending yourself?"

Kirito didn't respond. He didn't even register the little pixie's voice. All he did was stand there as Keita slashed him again, causing his HP to dip into the red.

"So why'd you do it Kirito?" Keita asked. "Why'd you lie to us and make us think that you were just another low-level player like we were? Was it so you could feel better about yourself by playing the big hero all the time? You never gave a damn about us!"

"That's… that's not true!" Kirito denied.

"Daddy, they're just NPCs!" Yui told him. "They're not real players!"

Kirito didn't hear Yui's voice at all. Suddenly a blade pierced through his chest from the other side. He looked back and saw that Sachi had stabbed him through the back with her sword. A look of sadness and anger was on the undead girl's face.

"Sachi… I…" Kirito uttered.

"I believed in you, Kirito." Sachi told him. "I thought that you could save me and get me back home. But you didn't. Instead you let me die!"

Sachi pulled out her sword and kicked Kirito in the back, knocking him to the floor. His HP had become nothing more than a red sliver. Kirito managed to sit up a little as Sachi stood over him, ready to deliver the killing blow.

"I hate you." Sachi told him in a cold voice. "I wish I had never met you."

Suddenly a bell seemed to ring in Kirito's mind. He flashed back to the moment Sachi had died, those brief seconds when she smiled at him and said something before her body shattered apart. He remembered that recording Sachi had made for him, telling him that she didn't blame him for her death and how she had thanked him for all that he had done. And as Kirito remembered all this, one thing became crystal clear.

"You're… not real." Kirito spoke as he got back to his feet. "You… and all the others… YOU'RE ALL FAKES!"

With that, Kirito lashed out and slashed the false Sachi in half with his sword, causing her HP to drop to zero and her body to shatter apart. Tetsuo and Ducker flew at Kirito, only for Kirito to quickly cut them to shreds. Yugi and the others arrived at the exact moment Kirito cut the fake Sasamaru down the middle. With one last cry, Kirito cut Keita's head off and finally brought the battle to an end. Kirito fell to his knees and dropped his sword. A notification screen appeared before him to let him know that he had obtained the third key, but he hardly noticed it.

"Looks like we got here kinda late, huh Kirito?" Joey observed as he and the others walked into the room. "Looked like you were having a pretty awesome fight though."

"Yeah, it looked like you were fighting more than one boss." Honda chimed in.

Kirito heard every word that they said, but he didn't respond or look back. He was still too much in shock. The monsters he just defeated may not have been the real Moonlit Black Cats, but fighting and killing them was still very painful.

Asuna quickly realized that something was wrong. "Kazuto, are you okay?"

"Just what kind of monsters were those anyway?" Anzu asked. "They looked like fairies, but they seemed dead."

"They were the Moonlit Black Cats… a guild I was once part of in MWO." Kirito flatly revealed.

Asuna was visibly shocked by this news. She immediately ran over and hugged Kirito from behind. The rest of the team meanwhile was very confused.

"Wait a sec. I thought you didn't join a guild until Kaiba forced you to join up with the Knights of the Blood Oath." Joey recalled.

Before anyone could respond, the room echoed with the sound of a horribly familiar laugh. Bakura's image appeared on the large mirror on the far wall of the chamber.

"Well Kirito, you certainly put on an amusing show for me." Bakura spoke with his usual evil grin. "I actually didn't think you'd have the nerve to fight back against your old friends like that. But now they're dead a second time thanks to you."

"What have you done now, Bakura?" Yugi demanded to know. "Who were these people you made Kirito fight against?"

"You mean Kirito never told you?" Bakura asked. "And here I thought all of you were so close. Before he met all of you, Kirito had joined a guild of players whose levels were far lower than his. He ended up carrying them through the game and caused them to become overconfident in their abilities."

"What happened to them?" Anzu asked, though she had a feeling she knew the answer.

"I lured most of them and Kirito into a minor but high-level dungeon that had a very nasty trap inside." Bakura explained. "Most of them were killed, though Kirito managed to escape with this girl in the guild he had grown fond of. Of course I killed her myself the moment they left the dungeon right in front of Kirito's eyes. Now what was her name again? I've killed so many people over the centuries it's hard to keep track."

"But… if those people from Kirito's old guild are dead, how could he have been fighting them?" Anzu asked.

"That was all thanks to me. I salvaged their avatar data during MWO in the hopes that it might come in handy later on." Bakura explained. "Then when I started this little campaign, I used their virtual corpses to create NPCs to act as the boss of this dungeon in the event that Kirito entered this boss room alone. I don't think I got them too out of character."

"You sick monster!" Asuna yelled. "How could you do something so cruel to Kazuto?"

"What can I say? I simply enjoy playing with dead things." Bakura replied with a sort of mad glee.

"You bastard." Kirito spoke in a low hate-filled voice as he picked up his sword and rose to his feet. "I'm gonna make you pay a million times for everything you've done!"

"I'd like to see you try." Bakura smugly responded. "I know about the little time limit Kaiba gave you to stop me. And I can assure you all that if he does indeed pull the plug on this game, Suguha and all the players I'm using for my goblin minions will die. The odds are stacked too well against you, Kirito. When all this is over, you'll have failed to protect you dear relative and Oberon's little test subjects, just like you failed to protect that guild of weaklings! This game will only prove how pathetic you truly are."

With that, Bakura began to laugh. Kirito screamed and threw his sword at the mirror, causing it to shatter to pieces. The shards of glass fell away to reveal another passageway with light at the end.

"Well, at least we found the way out of this place." Honda observed.

"Kazuto, are you…?" Asuna began to ask.

"I'll be fine." Kirito assured her. "Right now I just want to get to the nearest town and log out."

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Yugi agreed. "It's been a long afternoon."

The team left the dungeon as quickly as they could and took to the sky. Nobody said a word during the whole trip. A few minutes later they landed in the nearest town and checked into the first inn they could find. Once Kirito and Asuna got to their room at the inn, they both logged out.

* * *

Kirito awoke in a room that was not his own. It took him a few moments to recall that he had logged into the game at Asuna's. As he sat up and removed the NerveGear from his head, he found Asuna sitting on the bed next to him with a somewhat worried expression.

"You okay?" Asuna asked.

Kirito responded by breaking down in tears. Asuna quickly wrapped her arms around him and held him against her chest.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I first had the idea for the battle in this chapter back when I was writing Sachi's death in _Monster World Online_. It just seemed like the perfect way for Bakura to mess with Kirito psychologically. I had thought about working the battle into _MWO_ somewhere, but I just couldn't seem to find a good place to fit it in.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	12. Scars of the Mind

**Author's Note:** I apologize for yet another long delay with the update of this story. I've been pretty busy this past week thanks to my online class. My instructor handed out a couple of pretty brutal assignments. Plus I've kind of been losing some of my drive to work on this story lately. But I fully intend to finish this thing one way or another. I may take a break to work on something else though. We'll see what happens.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 11: Scars of the Mind

Though the evening had grown late, Anzu had decided to contact some of the old friends that she and the others had made in MWO to tell them about the Moonlit Black Cats. The players she had contacted were Klein, Agil, Silica, and Lisbeth. Besides Asuna, those players had been the ones closest to Kirito before he had joined the Warriors of Unity guild. After contacting everyone, Anzu went with Joey and Honda to meet the group at a bar owned by Agil known as the Dicey Café. Once everyone had gathered, Anzu had told them about the horrible tragedy of the Moonlit Black Cats, and how Bakura had just used NPCs modeled after the fallen guild to attack Kirito. Klein and the others were simply stunned by this revelation.

"Okay, okay." Lisbeth began as she tried processing what she had just learned. "So let me get this straight, the freak that was really behind MWO also killed a small guild that Kirito was once a part of. And now that same psycho just used NPCs he based on those people as the boss for the dungeon you guys just cleared?"

"That's right." Anzu confirmed. "We had always wondered why Kirito hated the other Bakura so much. Kirito actually tried to kill Bakura after the fist battle we fought together in MWO."

"But why did Bakura go after Kirito's friends in the first place?" the young girl known as Silica asked.

"Back then, Bakura tried using Kirito to kill Yugi for him." Joey explained. "Bakura wanted Kirito to hate him so much that he'd go through Yugi and the rest of us to get him."

"That son of bitch!" Klein cursed as he slammed his shot glass onto the table.

"Hey! You mind not breaking my stuff?" Agil requested.

"Sorry." Klein responded with a heavy sigh.

"So I guess none of you guys new about this old guild of Kirito's either." Honda deduced.

"This is the first we've heard about it." Agil calmly replied before taking a sip from his own glass. "But that kind thing is hard for anyone to talk about. Plus you guys know what a loaner Kirito was in the early days of MWO."

"So I guess the only person who really knew anything about this was Asuna." Anzu observed.

"I… might have known something about it too." Klein admitted. "One night my guys and I were out training to keep our levels up. I ran into Kirito that night. It looked like he was out doing the same thing. While I was talking to him, I noticed that he had a guild icon by his HP gauge. I didn't ask him about it though. But considering what happened, maybe I should've. Maybe I could've done something to keep it from happening."

"So what're you guys gonna do about this thing going on with ALO?" Agil asked Anzu, Joey, and Honda.

"What can we do?" Joey replied. "Our only option is to keep fighting until we beat Bakura."

"I don't think we really have a chance at this point though." Honda pointed out. "Kaiba's planning to pull the plug on the game after tomorrow. And we still have three keys left to find, plus we have to get the rest of the keys from the salamanders. I don't see how we can get all that done in one day."

"Well, maybe I can help out with that a little." Agil spoke as he got up from the table and went behind the bar. "I think I got an idea about how we can end this thing tomorrow."

"How the heck are you gonna do that?" Joey asked.

"Trust me, I've got it covered." Agil replied with a grin. "You guys just go home and get some rest. Tomorrow's still gonna be a long day."

"I guess we should get going." Anzu agrees as she and the others got to their feet. "We'll see you guys later."

* * *

Kirito awoke to find himself in Asuna's bedroom. It took a moment for his just woken up brain to recall that he had ended up spending the night there. He couldn't go home after experiencing the shock of having to fight NPCs that were twisted undead versions of the Moonlit Black Cats, the guild he had failed to protect. That battle had opened up old wounds that had still not healed for Kirito. He thought that perhaps they would never fully heal.

After getting dressed, Kirito went downstairs and followed his nose to the mansion's kitchen. He found Asuna at work preparing breakfast.

Asuna turned and quickly noticed Kirito. "Oh. Good morning."

"Hey." Kirito greeted back. "Aren't your parents home?"

"They already left for work." Asuna answered. "How are you doing? Feeling any better?"

"Some." Kirito replied. "Whatever you're cooking smells good."

"It'll be done in just a couple minutes." Asuna informed him. "Why don't you go wait in the dining room and I'll bring it out."

Kirito followed Asuna's instructions and went to the dining room to sit at the table. Soon after, Asuna brought out the food and they ate in silence. With breakfast finished, the two of them put their empty plates in the kitchen and went to another room to sit on the couch.

"You know… you never talk about them much." Asuna finally spoke. "Your old guild, I mean. I know it must be hard to talk about them, but I'm curious to know what they were like."

"…They were a fun bunch of people to be around." Kirito answered after a moment. "Before MWO began, they were just a group of friends that were part of the same computer club in high school. Back then, it just felt good to be part of a group of friends, even though I was keeping my true level a secret from them."

"There was one person in that guild who was extra special to you, wasn't there?" Asuna asked.

"Asuna, what…?" Kirito began ask.

"Don't worry, I'm not asking because I'm jealous or anything." Asuna assured him. "I knew from the beginning that I probably wasn't the first. So… what was she like?"

"…Her name was Sachi." Kirito finally began. "She was very kind and also pretty shy, not the kind of person who was cut out for a game like MWO. Sachi was always so scared of getting killed in the game. I did everything I could to protect her… but in the end it wasn't enough."

"Her death wasn't your fault, Kazuto." Asuna told him. "Bakura was the one who killed Sachi. You did everything you could, but in the end there was probably nothing you could do."

"I might've been able to save her if I was stronger than." Kirito insisted as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Maybe, maybe not." Asuna told him. "Either way, we'll never know for sure. So it won't do you any good to dwell on it."

"Yeah… I guess you're right." Kirito admitted.

Asuna cuddled up closer to Kirito. "I know how strong you are, Kazuto. Whatever happens, whatever we go up against, I'll always believe in you no matter what."

It wasn't long before the two of them became locked in a passionate kiss. Asuna ended up pushing Kirito onto his back on the couch.

* * *

Anzu headed back from the convenience store near her place carrying a bag containing a carton of milk and some energy bars. She wanted to get a few previsions before logging back into ALO, not that they would do her much good in a virtual world. But the items would give her a bit of a recharge after she left the game. During the whole walk, Anzu couldn't help but reflect on how hopeless everything seemed. There just seemed to be no way that they could save Sugu and the trapped players from MWO before Kaiba's deadline, and Anzu had no idea what Agil was going to do to try and help.

"Hey, Mazaki." A familiar voice called. Anzu turned around and saw Ember walking up to her. "Got a minute?"

"What do you want?" Anzu asked. "Don't tell me you're going to try and talk me into handing over the keys to you in ALO."

"I wanna talk to you about those goblins we had a run in with yesterday." Ember explained. "You and everyone else in starhead's gang seem to know what's really going on with them."

"Why do you want to know?" Anzu asked.

"That one goblin who called herself Kyra… she looked like someone I knew." Ember explained. "So I have to ask, are those goblins just NPCs or are they actual players?"

"…They are." Anzu finally answered. "They're actually the players from MWO who never woke up."

Ember's right hand clenched into a fist at her side. "I knew it. You better tell me everything about what's happened to those players."

"Some of it's a little hard to explain." Anzu told her. "In fact I'm pretty sure you won't believe some of it. For starters, those players from MWO didn't wake up because an executive at Kaiba Corp wanted to use them for some kind of experiment."

"Are you serious?" Ember exclaimed.

"Yeah, but that man died not too long ago." Anzu continued. "Do you remember Ryo Bakura from school?"

"You mean that white-haired simp that a lot of the girls seemed to go crazy for?" Ember recalled. "What's he got to do with all this?"

"This is where things get complicated." Anzu told her. "Bakura has another personality, an evil one. It's that personality who was the one really behind the MWO incident. He also killed the Kaiba Corp executive who was conducting the experiment and took over ALO. After that, he sort of brainwashed the MWO players to act as his goblin army."

"You know… some of that story is hard to believe." Ember admitted. "Still, I totally buy it."

"So is Kyra actually a friend of yours?" Anzu asked.

"Her real name's Kato." Ember answered as a sad expression came to her face. "And she's actually very special to me. She went to a different school than we did. One of her friends there convinced her to give MWO a try. Kato tried to get me to play too, but back then online games weren't really my thing. I never thought that a game like that could put her in the hospital or kill her."

"Why did you start playing ALO?" Anzu asked.

"Hell if I know." Ember replied. "Maybe I just wanted to find out about the kind of world that took Kato from me. But I got into it pretty quickly. Playing ALO has helped me tune out the pain of losing Kato. Just a little bit anyway."

"Guess that explains why you take the game so seriously." Anzu observed.

"…I've already figured out that if those goblins die in the game, the people playing them in the real world." Ember told her. "So tell me this, Mazaki. What are you and starhead going to do to get Kato and the others out of there?"

"The only way to save those players is to get to the top of the World Tree and beat Bakura." Anzu explained. "And we don't have a lot of time to do it. Kaiba plans to pull the plug on the game tomorrow. If that happens…"

"That rich bastard." Ember cursed through gritted teeth before Anzu could finish her sentence. "Okay Mazaki, I'm gonna make it easy for all of us save Kato and the others. You and your friends hand over your keys to me in the game and I'll lead an army to the top of the tree and kill that son of a bitch, Bakura myself."

"It's not that easy, Rika." Anzu told her. "Bakura is very power. Yugi and the rest of us were barely able to beat him in MWO. Why don't we just work together? You can get us the keys in the hands of the salamanders and we can get to the top of the tree together."

"Are you out of your damn mind?" Ember told her. "There's no way in hell that I'd just hand over the keys to you guys! If I do that, the salamanders lose out on getting the ultimate prize!"

"There is no prize!" Anzu told her. "That was just a trick Bakura used to get all the other players in the game to work against us! What's more important to you? Saving Kato's life or winning some game?"

Ember looked like she was about to argue, but no words came out of her mouth. Instead she just turned on her heel and stormed off. Anzu continued on her way home, wondering if Ember would still be a problem once she and the others logged back into the game.

* * *

Kirito and Asuna logged back into ALO together and materialized inside their room at the inn they had last logged out from. Yui was in the room waiting for them in her human form.

"Daddy, are you feeling okay now?" Yui asked Kirito with a look of concern.

"I'm fine now, Yui. Don't worry." Kirito assured her as he rubbed the top of her head. "Now we should get going. Yugi and the others are probably downstairs waiting for us."

Yui nodded and turned into her pixie form before flying up to sit atop Kirito's shoulder. By the time they reached the lobby they found Yugi and the rest of the team waiting for them by the door.

"You guys ready to go?" Joey asked them.

"Ready whenever you guys are." Asuna replied.

"Kirito, might I have a word with you alone before we head out?" Yugi requested.

"Sure." Kirito agreed.

Yui flew off and went to sit on Asuna's shoulder to give Kirito and Yugi some privacy. The rest of the team then exited the inn to wait for the two of them outside.

"So what's up?" Kirito asked.

"I wanted to know how you're doing since the incident in the last dungeon." Yugi explained.

"I'm better than I was." Kirito replied.

"That's good to hear." Yugi told him. "I also feel like I need to apologize. Bakura was coming after me in MWO. You, Asuna, and everyone else involved in MWO was caught in the crossfire. If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have had to experience the kind of suffering you did. And so many people would still be alive today."

"You can't blame yourself for all of that." Kirito told him. "Everything that happened in that game was because of Bakura."

"Even so, I still feel like I should've done more to prevent all that suffering and death." Yugi insisted.

"I don't think there's anything you could've done to have kept that death game from getting as bloody as it did." Kirito told him. "…Just like there was probably never anything I could've done to save my old guild. Either way, it's like Asuna told me this morning. Blaming ourselves for what happened isn't going to do us any good."

"Yes… you're right." Yugi agreed. "Right now we have to keep going and stop Bakura. Otherwise we'll never be able to free all those he's holding prisoner."

"Then let's get going." Kirito decided. "I think we've kept the others waiting long enough."

By the time Kirito and Yugi got outside, they found more than just the rest of the team waiting for them. Klein, Agil, Lisbeth, and Silica were waiting for them as well. Each of the four seemed to be a different type of fairy. Silica had gained a pair of brown cat-like ears, indicating that she was a cait sith. Perched on Silica's shoulder was her small blue dragon from MWO, Pina.

"Klein, Agil. What're all of you guys doing here?" a surprised Kirito asked.

"Hey man. Anzu, Joey, and Honda told us all a little about what's been going on last night." Agil explained. "So we decided to help out."

Lisbeth walked up to Kirito and held out her right hand to reveal three large gold keys. "We spent a good chunk of the night getting these."

"These are the final three keys." Kirito realized. "You guys really got all of them last night?"

"Well, we had a little help." Klein admitted. "Agil contacted all his gaming buddies who've been playing this game and told them about what's really going on."

"By now, word of what Bakura's been up to should've spread to every player in the game." Agil added.

"Now we just need to figure out how to get the remaining three keys from the salamanders." Anzu observed.

"Uh, we may not have long to figure out how." Honda told them as he pointed up at the sky.

The rest of the group looked and saw a large group of salamanders descending towards the town. Kirito and the others quickly noticed that Ember was among them. The one who seemed to be leading the large squad was a rather imposing-looking man with spiked red hair and a strong chin. He was well muscled and clad in red armor with gold trim.

"Hey Yugi, who's that guy leading the salamanders?" Joey asked.

"That's General Eugene, the top commander in the salamander army." Yugi answered. "Many consider him to be the strongest player in the game."

The squad landed in the middle of the road before the group. Eugene stepped forward and approached Yugi, prompting Kirito and the others to reach for their weapons.

"It's been awhile, General Yugi." Eugene spoke. "I heard that you've been working with a rather interesting band of fighters."

"Why have you come, Eugene?" Yugi asked. "If it's for the keys, I'm afraid my friends and I won't hand them over to you without a fight."

"I have no doubt about that." Eugene replied with a smirk. "If it were to come to that, you and your friends wouldn't stand a chance against me and my men."

"Don't be so sure." Yugi told him. "If we do battle, I have complete faith that my friends and I can defeat you."

"Seems like you're as confident as ever." Eugene observed. "Lucky for you, I didn't come here for a fight. I came here to give you these." With that, he presented Yugi with the remaining keys.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but why are you suddenly handing these over?" Yugi asked.

"Everyone now knows the truth behind the Goblin King's challenge." Eugene explained. "I myself don't entirely believe that the stakes are so high, but my brother thinks differently. He and the other eight leaders have already formed a temporary alliance to raid the tree. As we speak, all of the game's strongest players are flocking to the tree's base. You and I are to lead the attack."

"Very well." Yugi agreed. "Then let's be off! Together we shall take down Bakura and end this madness once and for all!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry if this wasn't the most exciting chapter in the story. I wanted to do something that took a break from all the battles. Originally I was going to have the conversation between Kirito and Yugi near the end of this chapter take place in the real world. But I decided that it would be more practical to have it take place in ALO.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	13. The Grand Alliance

**Author's Note:** I apologize for yet another long delay updating this story. My online class is part of the reason why I'm only getting this chapter up now, but the other part of it is that I felt like I needed a little break. Which is why I've started working on another story (that sadly has so far gotten zero reviews or followers). So for the time being, I'm only going to be updating this story just once a week.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 12: The Grand Alliance

Players from all across the game of ALO all gathered at the town at the base of the World Tree to take part in the raid against Bakura. All of them had come geared up for battle, bringing their strongest weapons. Many of the cait sith had come riding the backs of large dragons strong enough to take down entire armies. The players in this fighting force had not come in the hopes of claiming power or glory however. Every one of them had come in order to free the trapped players of MWO and end the evil that was threatening the existence of the game that they had all come to love.

As the players all gathered together, the sky above was thick with the dark thundering clouds that had been present over the town ever since Bakura had taken over the World Tree. The fighting force assembled at the tree's entrance, a great stone door carved with the images of skulls and the faces of tormented spirits. It was yet another example of Bakura's macabre taste in design. Yugi and his team stood in front of the door, along with Klein and the others from MWO. Eugene stood before the doors as well, along with the leaders of the nine races who had come to oversee the assault.

Once it looked like all of the fighters had assembled, Eugene stepped forward to say a few words. "Fellow salamanders and all players of ALO! We come here today to finally make an attack on the World Tree. But we come here not to claim some ultimate prize, but because we know the dark truth behind the Goblin King's challenge. To prevent another tragedy like the MWO incident, we now put our differences aside for this battle and join together for an alliance that will go down in this game's history. Before we begin this attack, General Yugi of the sylphs would like to say a few words."

With that, Eugene stepped aside and allowed Yugi to step forward. "I speak now to all players of this game. In the past, many of us have always been rivals fighting for the superiority of whatever race we chose to play as. Many of us have strived to reach the top of the World Tree, but the truth is that one player or race alone can achieve that goal. Only by all of us setting aside our rivalries and working together can we reach the top and defeat whatever challenge awaits us. Our unity is our greatest weapon! And with it, we shall defeat the Goblin King and end his darkness once and for all!"

The assembled warriors all cheered at the end of Yugi's speech. As they cheered, an image suddenly flashed into Kirito's mind. It was an image of Yugi dressed as a pharaoh standing on a balcony over a massive crowed of cheering subjects below.

"Yugi sure did a good job motivating the troops." Joey remarked.

"Yeah. The guy's always seemed like a good leader, even in MWO." Agil recalled.

"Hey Kirito, you okay?" Klein asked. "You looked like you spaced out there for a minute."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Kirito assured him. "I was just remembering something."

"And now, once General Yugi opens the doors, the attack will begin." Eugene announced.

Yugi stepped over the door and placed the nine keys in the circular lock in the center. The monolithic doors swung open and the players started to go inside. The interior was a large domed chamber lined with several ovular mirrors. At the top of the chamber on the ceiling was a circular opening in the center of a large carving that looked like the eye symbol that adorned the Millennium Items.

"Looks like the only way in is through that hole in the ceiling." Lisbeth observed.

"Yeah, but I'm sure this chamber has some kind of trap or something." Anzu assumed.

"We don't have any other options." Yugi pointed out. "The only way in is up."

With that, most of the players began to fly up towards the opening. As they did, Goblin Zombies with wings started to emerge from the mirrors. The undead creatures immediately began to swarm around the raiding party. Kirito quickly flew in and slashed apart a zombie that was coming after Asuna while the others quickly pulled out their weapons and began fighting the swarm. As soon as some of the undead goblins were destroyed, many more emerged to take their place. Many of the new zombies that emerged were carrying bows and arrows instead of swords.

"Man! These things just keep coming!" Agil exclaimed as he hacked another zombie apart with his axe. "This is gonna take forever at this rate."

Yui popped her head out of Kirito's pocket. "Individually, these monsters aren't that strong. But together they seem to be like one giant boss."

"Damn! Looks like Bakura listen to Yugi's speech too." Joey assumed as he took out two more zombies.

"I have a feeling that Bakura had this little trap set up way in advance of our arrival." Yugi assumed as he blew apart another zombie with his wand. "Who knows what else he has waiting for us after this."

* * *

Bakura watched the raiding party's battle with the Goblin Zombies from a large holographic screen in his throne room. With a wave of his hand, the screen vanished. The doors to his throne room opened and Kyra and Yulla ran in.

"Sire! A large army of fairies is trying to enter the tree." Kyra reported.

"I'm well aware of that." Bakura replied as he got up from his throne. "I have to say, I never expected things to turn out like this."

"Indeed, sire." Yulla agreed. "Who would've ever thought that the nine races would put aside their differences to come after us? On the other hand, I'm sure there's no way any army can get past our undead guards."

"Don't be so sure." Bakura told them as he walked past them to the door. "I'm certain a few of them will manage to get in. Which is why I want the two of you to prepare a little welcome for them."

"It will be done, sire." Kyra assured him. "But what about you?"

Bakura grinned and turned back to her. "I'm going to prepare for a little ball."

* * *

Several minutes seemed to go by as the army of players continued to fight against the army of flying Goblin Zombies. Many of the players had already been reduced to balls of burning light. The other players in the army there had revived some of them, but many of the lights simply faded away before anyone could get to them. The dragons that had been brought by the cait sith had done some major damage to the swarm, but for as many zombies that were destroyed, several more had taken their place. It seemed that the end of the battle was not going to come anytime soon.

Yugi and Klein's teams, along with Eugene and Ember had retreated to the floor of the chamber to take a moment to recover. Asuna used her healing magic on the others while the battle raged on around them.

"This is nuts!" Klein declared. "We're not gonna get anywhere at this rate."

"Asuna can't keep healing us over and over again. And pretty soon I'm gonna run out of mana to fire my guns." Honda pointed out.

"None of us are gonna last forever against these things." Agil agreed. "We need a new plan."

"The only way to end this is to get to Bakura." Yugi told them. "If just a few us can get to that opening, we can find him and stop him."

"Then why not just a few of us try and get to the opening while the rest covers our backs?" Kirito suggested.

"That seems like a good plan." Eugene agreed.

"Then my team will be the one that goes after Bakura." Yugi decided. "We've dealt with him many times in the past, so we have the best chance of defeating him."

"My team's going in with them!" Klein decided.

"Very well." Eugene agreed. "Ember, you'll go with them too in order to provide support."

"Yes sir!" Ember replied.

"I'll order the rest of our forces to keep those things away from you." Eugene continued. "Now let's go!"

With that, the two teams plus Ember began to fly at top speed up towards them opening in the center of the ceiling. The swarm of Goblin Zombies went straight after them, but the rest of the players attacked the creatures to provide cover. After dodging several arrows fired by the undead swarm, Yugi made in through the hole followed by Kirito and Asuna. The other made it through soon after. Upon landing on the other side, the group saw that they were in a dark circular corridor, lit only by eerie torches.

"Well, we're in." Joey observed. "Now what?"

"We move forward until we find Bakura." Yugi answered.

The group marched onwards through the corridor, not knowing what sort of surprises waited ahead. As they made their way through, a few of the headless suits of armor lining the halls came to life and attacked them. But Kirito and the others made quick work of them.

"This is almost like when we raided the Ruby Palace in MWO." Klein remarked.

"Yeah, only this time we can't die." Kirito pointed out.

"Don't be so sure, spriggan." A familiar voice spoke from ahead. Kirito and the others looked and saw Kyra and Yulla standing before them.

"Oh wow! It really is Yulier!" Lisbeth observed. "I didn't want to believe it, but…"

"Oh no! This again?" Yulla asked in a somewhat frustrated tone. "Why do you fairies insist upon calling me by that name?"

Kirito stepped forward. "This is probably going to sound unbelievable, but the two of you aren't really who you think you are. You're actually two players trapped in an online game. This life you're living now is a complete lie. If you'll let us pass and get to Bakura, we can end all this and get you back to your real lives."

"Do you honestly expect us to believe such an obvious trick?" Yulla asked.

At this point Ember stepped forward to speak to Kyra. "Kato, just and think for a minute, okay? You and I go back a long way together. And… and you mean more to me than I can ever say. I know that the real you is in there somewhere, so just try and remember, okay?"

"I have no clue what you're talking about." Kyra told her. "Now if you've come for our king, he's in the chamber up ahead. But you'll have to get through us first."

"Talking to them isn't gonna do any good." Agil observed. "Looks like we're gonna have to fight our way through."

"Kirito, you and the rest of your team can go ahead while the rest of us hold these two off." Klein suggested.

"Okay, but try not to hurt these two." Kirito told him.

"Don't worry. You can count on us." Klein replied with a thumbs-up.

"Nobody is going anywhere!" Kyra declared as she cracked her whip.

Kirito chanted a spell and the corridor became filled with a black mist. Before the mist cleared, Yugi's team quickly made it past the two brainwashed players and continued on. After a few more moments of running, the team made it to a pair of large doors that led to the chamber where Bakura was said to be waiting. Joey kicked down the doors and the entered to find an ornate ballroom with a large window taking up most of the far wall. An eerie music played, and all around them were goblins dressed for a masquerade ball.

"What is this?" Anzu asked as she looked around. "And where's Bakura?"

In answer to her question, a large black owl flew down to the top of a small set of stairs in front of the far wall. In a puff of smoke, the owl changed into Bakura, dressed still in a black-feathered cape and a grey jacket with an off-white shirt that had frilled cuffs.

"Glad you could finally make it, Yugi." Bakura greeted. "I hope you and the others like the little party I've prepared to celebrate your arrival."

"This ends now, Bakura!" Yugi declared. "You're going to pay for all the pain and suffering you've caused."

"So come down here and fight us!" Kirito ordered.

"I'll be more and happy to fight you." Bakura replied. "But first you'll have to get past my most powerful goblin warrior."

With that, Bakura snapped his fingers and a ball of green fire shot down from the ceiling and hit the center of the ballroom floor. The flames quickly died down to reveal a young woman in a kneeling position with pointed ears and long white hair tied into a ponytail. She had on a low-cut black leather dress with long sleeves and a short skirt. Her chest was covered by a piece of silver armor and in her right hand she carried a katana with a black blade. The young woman got to her feet and removed the black mask that was covering the top half of her face.

Yugi went pale upon seeing who the young woman was. "Leafa!"

"What?" Kirito exclaimed.

Leafa suddenly cried out and charged at Kirito with her sword raised. Kirito managed to block her attack with his own blade, but the force of her strike was strong enough to knock Kirito back at least five feet.

"Sugu, what're you doing?" a confused Kirito asked.

"Kazuto… you left me all alone." Leafa spoke. "You left me alone for years and ended up breaking my heart! So now… I'm going to make you pay!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Originally I was going to have a few dream sequences in this chapter that showed Bakura brainwashing Leafa/Sugu into his dark pawn, but I felt like it would've ruin the little surprise at the end. Plus I was having kind of a hard time figuring out how those scenes were going to go.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	14. The Pharaoh's Guards

**Author's Note:** I had indented to get this chapter done last Sunday, but I wanted to get to a certain point in the Digimon fanfic I'm also working on right now first. Sadly, that Digimon story has not been as popular as I had hoped. Anyway, apologies for the delay.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 13: The Pharaoh's Guards

"Bakura, you scum!" Yugi cursed. "What have you done to Leafa?"

"I think that should be obvious." Bakura answered with an evil grin. "After I captured Leafa, I put her in the same state that my goblin minions are in. She's now living a waking dream, but with one major difference from the dream I've given the other players I've enslaved. Leafa is totally aware of her true identity. All I've done is bring her repressed rage towards Kirito to the surface."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kirito asked. "Why would Sugu be mad at me?"

"Really, Kirito. You know very well that you cast your dear relative aside after you found out the truth about your real parents." Bakura reminded him. "Everything that's happening now is your fault."

"I know the truth, Kazuto." Leafa spoke. "While you were trapped in MWO, I found out that you and I are actually cousins. I've always had certain feelings for you, Kazuto. And when I found out that we weren't actually brother and sister, I thought that we might actually be able to become something more when you came back. But the truth is… you never did care about me, did you?"

"Sugu, that's just not true!" Kirito told her.

"You LIAR!" Leafa shouted as she charged at Kirito again.

Leafa began swinging her sword wildly at Kirito. It was taking everything he had to block and dodge her attacks. Very quickly into the duel, Leafa managed to slash Kirito twice in the chest, bringing his HP gauge very close to the yellow zone. Kirito on the other hand couldn't bring himself to fight back. Not against Sugu. All he could do was try and block or avoid her attacks long enough to find a way to snap Leafa back to her real self. Just Leafa was about to stab Kirito in the chest Asuna moved in with lighting speed and blocked her blade.

"Just stop this, Suguha!" Asuna told her. "How could you not think that Kazuto doesn't care about you? The whole reason he's been playing this game is because he's been trying to save you!"

"Don't talk to me, you bitch!" Leafa shot back. "You're the one who stole Kazuto from me. So I don't want anything to do with you!"

"Leafa, that's enough!" Yugi cut in. "This isn't the real you! Bakura has used his control over this game to twist your mind!"

"Shut up!" Leafa snapped before charging at Yugi to attack him. Yugi just barely managed to move to his right to avoid the attack. "You're no better than Kazuto and that bimbo of his! All this time you've been using me to try and make yourself feel better about how you screwed everything up in MWO! You never cared about me at all!"

Suddenly Bakura's evil laughter filled the room. "It's useless for you fools to try and reason with my little pawn. Right now she's been completely consumed by her own rage. Nothing you say can get through to her now."

"Damn you, Bakura!" Yugi cursed.

* * *

Klein and Agil's team continued to fight against Kyra and Yulla in the halls of the World Tree. Ember had been fighting against Kyra on her own, while Klein and the others had been facing Yulla. The team had been fighting a purely defensive battle the whole time. Trying to do any actual damage to Kyra and Yulla would only be putting them at risk in the real world. The best they could do was to try and restrain them somehow. The two goblin women on the other hand had been trying their best to destroy them.

"This battle is getting quite boring." Yulla remarked. "If you fairies aren't going to take this seriously, I might as well finish you all off now."

With that, Yulla chanted a spell that launched a barrage of small flaming pumpkins at the team. Klein and the other three were hit, and the blast brought their HP gauges into the red zone.

"Man! I don't know how much more of this we can take." Agil told the others.

"At least we can't actually die in this game." Lisbeth pointed out.

"Yeah, but on the other hand if we go down here, we won't be able to help Kirito take down Bakura." Klein pointed out.

Meanwhile, Ember was busy trying to avoid the lash of Kyra's whip. The end of the goblin warrior's weapon caught Ember in the cheek, causing her HP to take a slight drop. Ember on the other hand didn't do anything to retaliate.

"Will you just fight back already?" Kyra demanded. "Why do you insist on simply dodging my attacks?"

"I could never bring myself to fight against you." Ember told her. "Not when you mean so much to me."

"Are you still insisting that we know each other somehow?" Kyra observed. "For the last time, I have no idea who you are, and I don't know of this Kato you keep speaking of!"

"That's it. I'm just going to end this whole thing right now." Yulla decided before chanting another spell.

A single flaming pumpkin appeared in the air by Yulla before splitting into five pumpkins that flew towards Klein and the others. As one of the pumpkins flew towards Ember, Kyra moved in for another attack and inadvertently got into the projectile's flight path. Ember noticed the pumpkin and quickly dove towards her, knocking the goblin to the ground. The pumpkin kept going until it hit the wall behind them and exploded. At the same time, Klein and the others managed to get out of the way of the pumpkins heading towards them.

Kyra blinked in surprise after realizing what had just happened. "You… just tried to protect me."

"Of course I did." Ember told her. "I could never let anything bad happen to you."

"Oh dear. Sorry 'bout that, Kyra." Yulla told her after realizing what had just happened. "Of course if had been paying attention to what I was doing, that little accident could've been avoided. Good thing that salamander woman has some kind of fixation on you. If she didn't things could've ended up being a whole lot worse."

Kyra merely glared at Yulla. After getting out from under Ember, Kyra chanted a spell of her own and a bolt of yellow-green lighting shot from her right hand and hit the ground around Yulla. Suddenly a circular wall made of yellow-green transparent light rose up from the ground and surrounded Yulla.

"Hey!" Yulla protested. "Don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

"Shut up!" Kyra shot back before chanting another spell.

Bolts of green lighting shot down from inside the column of light that Yulla was in and shocked her. The trapped goblin was knocked out and slid down the side of wall to the floor.

"What the hell did you just do?" Klein demanded to know.

"Relax, I only knocked her out." Kyra assured them. "I've always hated that bitch, but not that much."

"So… does this mean you're not going to try and fight us anymore?" Silica asked.

"Don't read too much into it." Kyra told them. "I've only decided to stop fighting you as thanks for your salamander friend protecting me before."

"I'd do anything for you, Kato." Ember told her. "Even though you're not the Kato I know right now, I still love you."

Kyra blushed a little at Ember's comment. "So… this Kato you keep speaking of is someone you love. Perhaps you could tell me a little more about her."

"I'd be happy to." Ember replied.

* * *

Leafa's three-way battle against Kirito, Asuna, and Yugi continued in the ballroom. The whole time, Anzu, Joey, and Honda had been watching the fight from the sidelines along with Bakura and the goblins that had been participating in the masquerade ball that was going on before the team had shown up. Over the course of the battle, Leafa had done significant damage to her three opponents. It hadn't been hard for her to do, since Kirito and the others had done nothing to fight back. Their HP gauges had dropped into the red zone.

"This battle's just about over." Leafa declared. "One more attack, and you'll all be dead."

"Leafa, just stop for a moment and think about what you're doing!" Yugi requested. "Bakura's only filled your head with lies!"

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut UP!" Leafa shot back. "I've had it with you! You're the one who's been lying to me this whole time! You made me think that you actually cared about me! I thought that maybe our relationship in this game could become something more. But all this time you were just stringing me along and using me as a crutch to help make yourself feel better about how you screwed things up in MWO!"

"Just hold on a minute!" Anzu interrupted. "Yugi isn't the kind of person you think he is, Leafa! He actually thinks of you as a friend! And just like Kirito and Asuna, he came all the way here to save you!"

"Oh please! Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" Leafa scoffed. "All I've ever been to anyone has been the little sister, just some naïve little girl! Well I'm sick of it!"

"Sugu, just listen to me for a sec!" Kirito begged. "I'm sorry I pushed you away for all these years. I did it because I didn't know how to deal with the fact that you weren't really my sister and that my real parents were dead. But I know that was wrong. If I could somehow get back the time we lost, I would. I don't how else to make things up to you."

"…I know one way you can make it up to me, brother." Leafa responded after a moment. "You can just die!"

With that, Leafa charged in to stab Kirito in the chest. Yugi quickly moved in to use his body as a shield. The tip of Leafa's sword ended up stabbing the front of the Millennium Puzzle. Upon being pierced, the puzzle began to glow with a golden light. Bakura's Millennium Ring began to react as well. In moments, an explosion of golden light washed out the entire ballroom.

* * *

_Sugu stood alone in an endless expanse of white light. She had no memory of how she had gotten there. The last thing Sugu could remember clearly was doing battle with Kyra. She felt like she had just woken up from some very long bad dream. Sugu found that she could remember a few bits and pieces, but much of it was a blur. Yet whatever the dream was about, Sugu found that she felt guilty about something._

_"Where am I?" Sugu finally asked as she started to look around._

_"So, you're finally awake." A voice spoke. Sugu turned around to see a man with light-brown hair wearing a white lab coat. "It seems I was finally able to break through the program that demon had trapped you in."_

_"Who are you?" Sugu asked._

_"My name is Akihiko Kayaba." The man answered. "I'm sure you've probably heard of me."_

_"You're the man who created MWO and the full dive system." Sugu replied. "You're also the one who took my brother away from me!"_

_"You have every right to be mad at me. I had planned to trap the players of MWO from the very beginning." Kayaba admitted. "But you should also know that while I was the original mastermind behind the MWO incident, someone else had taken over control of the game from me and used it for his own purposes. That same person is also the reason why you're here with me now."_

_"Well then… who is this person you're talking about?" Sugu asked._

_"He is a great evil that has existed for thousands of years." Another voice interrupted. Sugu and Kayaba looked to see Shadi walking towards them._

_"Who are you?" Kayaba asked. "And how is it that you were able to come here?"_

_"I am a protector of the Millennium Items." Shadi answered. "Using the power of my Millennium Key, I was able to enter this girl's mind."_

_"Wait, we're inside my mind?" Sugu asked._

_"In a sense, yes." Kayaba confirmed. "I was able to establish a direct link with your mind in order to communicate with you."_

_Before Sugu could respond, a small glowing version of the Millennium Puzzle appeared a few feet away. The puzzle rotated around as it floated up to her._

_"What's this thing?" Sugu asked. "It looks like that pendant that Yugi always wears."_

_"Your actions moments ago have also somehow created a connection to the Millennium Puzzle." Shadi explained. "Touch it, and you may understand the reason why you, your brother, and his lover were pulled into this virtual world."_

_Sugu hesitantly touched the front of the floating puzzle. Upon being touched, the inverted pyramid seemed to explode in a flash of golden light. The light faded and the three found that they were in the middle of a desert. The sky above them was covered in thick dark storm clouds. In the distance, Sugu and the others could see soldiers of some kind doing battle with wicked creatures. A few feet away from them, Yugi was on his knees and dressed like an Egyptian pharaoh. His body had small wounds that indicated that he was just in some sort of fight._

_Asuna was kneeling down next to Yugi, clad in white Egyptian-style clothes. A single sword was hanging from her waist. Kirito stood protectively in front of the two wearing his own black ancient Egyptian wardrobe, holding a sword in each hand. Standing across from Kirito was a strange-looking man wearing black robes and armor. He had long wild red hair, and on his face was a featureless white mask with a single eyehole showing an artificial golden eye that looked like the symbol of the Millennium Items._

_"You monster!" Kirito said to the masked man. "How could you betray us to that demon? Because of what you've done, this kingdom and the whole world are teetering on the edge of darkness!"_

_"Everything I've done, Kiratus has been for the sake of my son!" the masked man declared. "He is the one true pharaoh. The man you and your young wife protect now is but a pretender to the throne who only became king because my brother, the former pharaoh happened to be born first."_

_"If you truly are the brother of the former pharaoh, then how can you turn against your own blood like this?" Asuna demanded to know. "Tell me how you can so callously turn against your own family!"_

_"The pharaoh you protect is but a weak man, just like his father before him." The masked man answered. "Only men of truth strength can rule the kingdom. I was stronger than my brother because I was willing to do what was needed to protect Egypt from invaders. My son has inherited that strength, and I shall do whatever it takes to make sure he sits on the throne!"_

_"You, stronger than the Pharaoh and his father? Don't make me laugh." Kirito scoffed. "Someone who was truly strong would never sell his soul to evil you have done!"_

_"I've no time to argue with you." The masked man told them as he turned around. "I have other matters to attend to. In the meantime, you and your false king can entertain yourselves with my legions of the dead."_

_With that, the masked man walked away and vanished through a cloud of sand. Suddenly a hoard of legless floating skeletons wearing armor and carrying swords burst up from the ground and surrounded them._

_"Asana, protect the Pharaoh!" Kirito told Asuna. "I'll handle these demons! Take flight and illuminate the heavens, Stardust Spark Dragon!"_

_A beam of blue light emanated from Kirito and shot of into the sky, causing the skeletons to freeze. The end of the light quickly turned into Stardust Spark Dragon._

_"I will not let you fight alone, my love!" Asuna declared. "Awaken and spread the winds of ruin, Moonlight Rose Dragon!"_

_A red light emanated from Asuna and shot into the sky, taking the form of Moonlight Rose Dragon. Just as a battle was about to begin, the area was washed out in another explosion of gold light. The light faded, and Sugu and the others were back in the endless white expanse._

_"What was that just now?" Sugu asked._

_"That was a scene from a battle that took place thousands of years ago." Shadi explained. "The masked man we saw the High Priest of Shadows, a servant of the evil that was behind what you call the MWO incident."_

_"But… if that was a battle from thousands of years ago, what were Yugi and my brother doing there?" Sugu asked._

_"The one you know as Yugi is the soul of the Pharaoh who fought against that evil thousands of years ago." Shadi explained. "And your brother, as well as the young woman he loves are the reincarnations of the Pharaoh's guards. From the very beginning, they were fated to meet again in this life."_

_It hurt Sugu a bit when Shadi said that Kirito and Asuna were fated to be together. It only reinforced the fact that she and Kirito could never be anything more than just brother and sister._

_"I knew that the one who stole control of MWO from me wasn't human. But I never expected him to be some ancient demon." Kayaba spoke._

_"You are a cleaver man, Akihiko Kayaba." Shadi told him. "An ordinary man could never have replicated the power of the ancient shadow games as you have. But the darkness that took over your game is a power far beyond your understanding."_

_"Well there's something I want to understand." Sugu interrupted. "What's this evil that you guys keep talking about?"_

_"I believe I can answer that." Kayaba replied. "Let me show you exactly what this creature has done."_

_With that, several holographic windows appeared around the three and started playing back events from MWO and ALO that Bakura played a part in. Sugu watched scenes like the time the Moonlit Black Cats were slaughtered and when Kirito could only watch helplessly as Bakura murdered Sachi in cold blood. She witnessed the time Asuna was turned into a merciless player killer through Bakura's manipulations, and the moment when Bakura's monster form, Zorc killed Kirito and Asuna's MWO avatars right in front of Yugi's eyes. She watched as Bakura squashed Oberon like a bug and pushed a captive Asuna out of the World Tree._

_The last two scenes Sugu saw were of Kirito fighting undead version of the Moonlit Black Cats, and of herself attacking Yugi and the others. Upon seeing that last image, Sugu instantly remembered the things she had done while she was brainwashed, causing her to become filled with horror and regret._

_"Oh god…" Sugu spoke as she backed away and covered her mouth. "How could someone do so many awful things? How could he hurt my brother and Yugi like that?"_

_"He is but a demon, child." Shadi answered. "All he knows is destruction and chaos."_

_"Someone has to stop this monster before he hurts more people." Sugu declared._

_"I can help you with that." Kayaba offered. "It's the least I can do to make up for how your brother and all the other players of MWO have suffered. I do have a small request, however. When this next battle is over, I'd like you to give your brother something for me."_

_"Okay. You've got a deal." Sugu agreed._

* * *

The explosion of light that had enveloped the ballroom faded. Leafa had returned to her original sylph form, tears streaming down her face. Yugi, Kirito, and Asuna all had somewhat shocked expressions on their faces. After a moment they noticed that Leafa had returned to normal.

"Sugu, are you…?" Kirito began to ask.

"I'm sorry." Leafa told them as she backed away from them. "I'm sorry for everything I just did and said."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Kirito told her.

"Well, this certainly is unexpected." Bakura spoke, causing Leafa to turn around. "I'd certainly like to know how you've returned to your original avatar, and how you were able to wake up from the little dream I put you in."

"…You monster." Leafa spoke in a low hate-filled voice. "I know about everything you've done! I know about how you've hurt my brother, and Yugi, and so many others! I'll never forgive you, ever! And I'm going to make you pay!"

At this, Bakura laughed. "You are going to make me pay for my crimes? A pitiful child like you could never hope to oppose me and live."

"System access! User ID: Heathcliff!" Leafa called out, surprising Bakura along with Kirito and the others. Several holographic screens appeared around her.

"That ID… is that…?" Kirito began to realize.

"I don't know how you managed to get Kayaba's ID, but it won't help you!" Bakura told her. "His access codes cannot override mine!"

"Maybe not, but it can give me what I need to fight you." Leafa told him. "Generate item! ID: Oberon's Apple!"

A small portal opened up above Leafa and dropped out a golden apple. The blonde fairy easily caught the golden fruit before it could hit the ground.

"That… that item!" Bakura exclaimed.

"That's right. This is the item that's said to be able to turn any fairy into an alf." Leafa explained. "The code for it was left over from the beta version of ALO, and it's just what I need to take you down!"

Leafa took a bite out of the golden apple, causing it to shatter into golden polygons. Suddenly Leafa began to glow with a brilliant white light. Her dress turned white and the ribbon tying her ponytail became a large golden bow. Her green fairy wings appeared on her back, only to be replaced by a pair of white angelic wings. Leafa's foot ware was replaced with a pair of white knee-high stockings and a pair of white shoes with little feathered wings on the sides.

"Goblin King! I challenge you to battle!" Leafa declared. "If I win, you'll give up control of this game and let go of all the players you've captured!"

"…Alright, little girl. I'll play your game." Bakura finally agreed. "But I'm going to make you regret the moment you decided to challenge me. I'm going to enjoy clipping your wings."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I hope everyone enjoyed the little flashback scene in this chapter. Just think of it as a little preview of this AU's version of the Millennium World arc. I probably don't need to explain who the guy in the mask was.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	15. Leafa vs Zorc

**Author's Note:** We've now come to the final chapter of this story. I am aware that this thing has turned out to be a few chapters shorter than _Monster World Online_. But in my defense, the Fairy Dance Arc of the SAO anime was a few episodes shorter than the epic Aincrad arc that started it all.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 14: Leafa vs. Zorc

"Sugu, you aren't seriously going to fight this bastard on your own, are you?" Kirito asked.

"Don't worry, Kazuto. I'll be fine." Leafa assured him. "Besides, this is the least I can do for you after… what just happened."

"At least let us back you up." Asuna requested. "Bakura's a very dangerous enemy. You're going to need all the help you can get."

"No, all of you need to stay out of this." Leafa told them. "Your HP's just way to low to help me in this battle. Besides, with the way I am now, there's no way that monster can beat me."

"You sure about that?" Kirito asked.

"Trust me." Leafa replied, as she stood ready to fight. "This Goblin King's no match."

"I admire your confidence, little girl." Bakura remarked. "But don't think for a moment that this battle will be an easy one. Because now you're going to be facing my true avatar in this game… Zorc the Goblin King!"

In an instant, Bakura was enveloped in a pillar of green flames. The flames died down after a moment to reveal a seven-foot tall humanoid creature with a well-muscled build and pale-green skin. It had a skeletal face with yellow eyes, along with long pointed ears and a head of long white hair. On its back was a pair of black-feathered wings. Its torso was covered in silver armor, with pieces of attached shoulder armor in the shape of skulls. The rest of the demon's outfit consisted of a long pair of black pants and a pair of brown leather boots. From his waist hung a sword with a curved blade and a handle with a skull on the end. Eight HP gauges appeared by Zorc's head.

"Aw man! Are we sure Leafa can handle that thing?" Honda asked. "It looks as tough as monster avatar Bakura used in MWO."

"At least its got two less HP gauges." Joey pointed out.

"I don't imagine this battle taking very long." Zorc spoke as he brought up his right hand.

A large floating jack-o-lantern appeared over the palm of Zorc's hand. The goblin king threw to large flaming projectile straight at Leafa. Before it could hit though, Leafa quickly chanted a spell and hit the flaming pumpkin with a beam of golden light shot from the palm of her left hand. The beam hit the flaming jack-o-lantern and sent it right back at Zorc. The force of the impact from the pumpkin knocked Zorc back through the large window behind him, shattering it completely to pieces. The goblin managed to stay airborne, but his first HP gauge had fallen to a mere red sliver.

Before Zorc could fully recover from having his own attack shot back at him, Leafa shot towards him like a rocket and slashed him two times in the chest with her sword. His first and second HP gauges fell to zero and his third HP gauge was reduced to half.

"Damn you!" Zorc cursed. "How can a little girl like you be beating me?"

"You may be the one in control of this game, but you don't know it as well as you think you do." Leafa told him. "This game is more about skill than it is about stats. And I'm guessing if this were a kendo match in the real world, I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back."

"You insolent child!" Zorc shot back. "I will make you pay for taking me so lightly!"

With that, Zorc shot a blast of green flames from his hand. Leafa flew upwards to dodge the attack but was hit in her right leg, causing her HP gauge to drop slightly. Zorc quickly drew his sword and charged in. Leafa quickly recovered and blocked his attack with her own sword then slashed the demon in his left shoulder, causing his third HP gauge to drop further. Zorc recovered and slashed at Leafa again, but in a flash Leafa flew out of the way and came around to slash the demon from behind, causing his third HP gauge to drop to zero and his fourth to be cut in half.

Kirito and the others watched Leafa's battle with Zorc from the broken window of the ballroom. As they looked on, Klein entered the room with Ember and Kyra.

"Hey guys." Klein spoke as they approached. "Everything going okay here?"

"I guess you could say that." Anzu answered. "The final battle with Bakura's going on right now."

Klein walked up to the window and saw Leafa and Zorc clashing in the air. "Whoa! Okay, so I'm guessing that monster thing out there is Bakura. But who's the blonde that's fighting him? She's pretty hot. I may try asking her out when this whole thing's over."

"Yeah, that's Sugu out there fighting Zorc." Kirito told him with a warning glare.

"Oh…" Klein replied. "Well… looks like she's really kicking Bakura's ass."

"How'd things go on your end?" Kirito asked him.

"Oh, well were able to capture Yulier." Klein answered. "Agil and the others are looking after her right now. Of course we wouldn't have been able to capture her if Ember hadn't gotten Kyra to change sides."

"Don't read too much into it." The goblin woman told him. She then got a good look at the battle going on outside. "Is that an alf fighting the king?"

"Yeah, Leafa turned into one before she challenge Zorc." Asuna confirmed.

"Well, if the king is facing an alf, then this empire may be finished." Kyra assumed. "In the ancient past, it was the alfs who sealed my people beneath the earth. Your friend out there may be the only one in existence who can defeat the king."

"What I'd like to know is how Leafa was able to turn into an alf in the first place." Honda spoke.

"It was because of that user ID she used." Kirito answered. "Right now, Sugu's basically a GM. All thanks to Akihiko Kayaba."

"Yes, somehow Kayaba was able to give his ID to Sugu." Yugi spoke. "However he was able to do it, it's clear that he wants this madness to end just as much as we do."

Outside, the battle between Leafa and Zorc had paused so that the two could catch their breath. Leafa's HP gauge had dropped to half of what it was, while Zorc was down to his final four HP gauges.

"It seems we are evenly matched." Zorc observed.

"As if." Leafa replied. "I've only needed a single HP gauge for this battle, while you needed eight. But you've already lost half. The way I see it, I'm a whole lot stronger than you are."

"Don't get overconfident, little girl." Zorc told her. "You may have been lucky up until now, but in the end victory will be mine!"

"We'll see about that!" Leafa told him before flying in with her sword raised.

With one slash, Leafa managed to cut Zorc's left hand, taking out a large chunk of his fifth HP gauge. Instead of shattering into polygons though, Zorc's severed hand started to float in midair and pulse like a beating heart. To Leafa's surprise, the hand suddenly began to grow and twist in a horrific way. In moments, the severed limb had split into three large hideous bat-like monstrosities, each with its own pair of HP gauges.

"What… what is this?" Leafa asked.

"You may somehow have greater physical strength than me at the moment, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Zorc told her. "Let's see how well you do against four opponents instead of one."

One of the bat creatures flew towards Leafa to attack. But just as it was about to strike, Stardust Spark Dragon flew in and blasted the creature in the face. Moonlight Rose Dragon then appeared and struck the second of the creatures with her thorn-covered tails. Dark Magician flew in next and blasted the third creature in the face with his staff.

"What?" Zorc exclaimed.

"Sugu!" Kirito called from the ballroom window, getting their attention. "We'll handle these monsters! You just worry about Zorc!"

"But… I wanted you guys to leave this battle to me!" Leafa told them.

"You told us to stay out of the battle, but you never said anything about our monsters!" Asuna pointed out.

"Leafa! We can handle Zorc's minions!" Yugi assured her. "Just focus on defeating Zorc and ending this madness!"

"You shall pay for interfering this battle!" Zorc told them as he slashed his sword through the air and sent a blade of green flames towards Yugi and the others.

Before the blade of flames could hit, Leafa quickly moved in and chanted the same spell she had used to repel Zorc's flaming pumpkin. A beam of golden light shot from Leafa's hand and sent the flame back at Zorc, hitting him in the chest and reducing his fifth HP gauge to zero. Before Zorc could recover, Leafa flew in and slashed him several more times in the chest. In a matter of moments, the goblin king's final HP gauge had fallen into the red.

"Enough!" Zorc shouted as he dropped his sword and shot Leafa in the chest with a blast of green flames.

The point-blank attack knocked Leafa back a few feet and caused her HP gauge to drop to a red sliver. After a moment, Leafa recovered and prepared herself for another attack.

"I'll admit that you've put up a good fight, it all ends here!" Zorc declared. "Now I shall make you pay!"

"You're the one who's gonna pay!" Leafa declared. "I didn't think it would come to this, but it looks like this is the only way!"

With that, Leafa began chanting another spell. When she finished, her body started to glow with a blinding gold light that made Zorc shield his eyes. Leafa cried out as she flew towards Zorc, and with one slash she cut the goblin king in two. Zorc roared in pain before the remains of his body shattered into polygons. With Zorc dead, a brilliant beam of sunlight parted the clouds of the stormy sky above. The creatures that had been generated by Zorc's severed hand were burned to dust before Dark Magician and the two dragons could finish them off.

Meanwhile in the ballroom, Kyra suddenly turned into a wireframe and vanished, much to Ember's surprised. The other goblins in the ballroom turned into wireframes and vanished as well.

"Hey! What happened to Kato?" Ember asked.

"Don't worry. I'm sure this means she's only been logged out of the game." Anzu assured her. "Now that Bakura's been beaten, everyone he's been holding captive should be free now."

Leafa began to fly back towards the ballroom window to rejoin the others. But as she flew, her body began to turn into particles of light that drifted away through the air.

"Sugu, what's happening to you?" a concerned Kirito asked.

"That last move I used to beat Zorc was a sacrifice move that dropped my HP to zero." Leafa explained. "Don't worry, the system will just log me out. Of course next time I log back in, my character stats will be reset to what they were when I first started playing ALO. I'll just be an ordinary sylph."

"This battle could not have been won without your help, Leafa." Yugi told her. "You did well."

"I wouldn't have been able to do anything if Kayaba hadn't loaned me his ID." Leafa replied as she continued to fade away. "Oh, before I go Kazuto, Kayaba asked me to give you something."

Appearing in Leafa's hand was a small golden light that resembled an egg. The egg of light floated over to Kirito's hands.

"What is this thing?" Kirito asked.

"Kayaba called it the World Seed." Leafa answered. "He said you could delete it if you want, but if you had any love for the virtual world left you should use it."

"I'll check it out." Kirito replied.

"See you on the other side." Leafa told him. And with that, her body faded completely away.

* * *

Kirito and Asuna arrived at the hospital with Yugi and the rest of the team to check Sugu out. As they headed for Sugu's room, Anzu spotted Ember heading down the hall.

"Hey guys? Do you think you can handle things without me?" Anzu asked. "There's something I want to check up on."

"Yeah, I think we've got everything covered." Kirito answered. "It doesn't take six people to check one girl out of the hospital."

"In that case, how 'bout Honda and I go with Anzu in case she needs help?" Joey suggested.

"I guess that's okay." Anzu agreed.

With that, the team split up and Anzu managed to find the room where Ember had gone. The three of them peeked inside to find Ember kissing a young woman with long brown hair wearing a pair of glasses with large round frames. Anzu and the others quickly realized that the girl in question was the goblin formerly known as Kyra.

Ember noticed Anzu and the others looking at them and broke the kiss. "Aw, dang it! What the hell are you doing here, Mazaki?"

"Sorry. We just noticed you walking by and wanted to see how you were doing." Anzu answered. "We didn't mean to disturb you guys."

"Rika, are these friends of yours?" Kato asked in a shy voice.

"Yeah, sorta." Ember answered. "I just know 'em from school. Mizaki, this is my girlfriend, Kato."

"Um, it's nice to meet you." Kato greeted.

Suddenly a playful smirk came to Ember's face. She leaned over and whispered something in Kato's ear, pointing at Anzu at the same time. Whatever Ember was saying made Kato's face turn bright red.

"Rika, that's dirty!" Kato told her.

"I'm just kiddin' ya." Ember told her. "Besides, you know I want you all to myself."

"We'll just leave you alone now." Anzu told the couple. Though Ember and Kato were too deeply locked in another kiss to hear what she had said.

"Hey guys, was that girl in there really Kyra the goblin?" Honda quietly asked the two as they headed down the hall. "She seems totally different."

"Well, she was brainwashed by Bakura." Anzu pointed out. "I guess it's no surprised that she'd have a different personality in the game than her real self."

"Let's just go find Yugi and the others." Joey told them. "I'm sure they're waitn' for us."

* * *

Kirito and the others exited the hospital with Sugu. As soon as the got out the door, they saw Kaiba standing before them with Mokuba. Kaiba walked up to them with his cold blue eyes fixed on Yugi.

"What do you want, Kaiba?" Yugi asked.

"I only dropped by to thank you and your little friends with your help fixing the problem with ALO." Kaiba answered. "All of the players from MWO that were still trapped have woken up."

"Sugu's the one you should really be thanking." Kirito told him. "We wouldn't have been able to fix the problem without her help."

"Whatever." Kaiba indifferently replied. "I any case, I'm considering shutting down ALO. These VRMMOs have proven to be a little more trouble than they're worth. In the meantime Yugi, I expect you to take part in the Battle City Tournament. You and I still have a score to settle."

"Don't worry Kaiba, I'll be there." Yugi assured him.

"I'll be there too." Asuna revealed, surprising Kirito and the others.

"Wait, since when do you play that card game, Duel Monsters?" Kirito asked.

"I learned how to play awhile ago." Asuna answered. "I also have a duel disk, which means I plan to be in this tournament."

"Someone like you will probably be wiped out at the start of the preliminaries." Kaiba assumed. "But go ahead and enter if you want to humiliate yourself."

"Don't underestimate me." Asuna warned. "Who knows? I may be the one who humiliates you."

Kaiba's response was to turn on his heel and leave. Mokuba waved at Yugi and the others before following behind. After leaving the hospital, Yugi and the others took off and left Kirito and Asuna to escort Sugu home.

"So Asuna, what made you decide to enter this tournament of Kaiba's?" Kirito asked.

"Well… before all this stuff with ALO started, Yugi told us that this tournament might help him unlock his memories." Asuna explained. "If that's true, then I want to help him in any way I can. I figure it's the least I can after all he's done for us."

"Yeah, I feel the same way." Kirito agreed. "I don't think there's a whole lot I can do though, since I can't enter this tournament, but I'll be there to cheer both you and Yugi on."

"I'll be there too." Sugu told them, getting their attention. "I want to be there to give Yugi my support, and you too, Asuna."

"Well thanks, Sugu." Asuna replied.

"You know… I was honestly mad at you because I thought you had stolen Kazuto from me." Sugu admitted. "But I can see that the two of you are meant for each other, especially after learning what I know now."

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" Kirito asked.

"Oh… I'll tell you about it later." Sugu answered. "C'mon. Let's go home."

* * *

Bakura watched from around a street corner as Kirito, Asuna, and Sugu headed home. He scowled as his eyes fixed on Sugu.

"Beaten by a pathetic little girl!" Bakura spoke to himself. "This wouldn't have happened if Kayaba hadn't interfered. Well, no matter. I'll leave Kirito and his little family alone for now and focus on getting the rest of the Millennium Items. Then once I have the ultimate power, I'll make that girl pay and shroud this whole world in darkness. No one will be able to stop me!"

FAIRY MASQUERADE: END

* * *

**Afterward:** Thus ends another major story in my Yu-Gi-Oh! Online series. I'd like to thank everyone who's read and reviewed this little story of mine. I know that so far this crossover series hasn't been the most popular series I've ever done. This particular story ended up being a little hard to work on towards the end, partially due to the work I've had to do for this online class I've been taking for the last couple of months. But I enjoyed working on this story all the same.

So obviously this series isn't done just yet. There are still a few stories in it left to do. I'm not really sure when I'll get back to this series though. For now I'm going to spend time on some of my other projects, like my recently resurrected Digimon series. But I will get back to this series in time. The last few stories I've done brought Yugi and his friends into Kirito and Asuna's world, but in the next few stories Kirito and Asuna will be venturing into Yugi's world.

Next time, Asuna will take part in Battle City in the interlude story, **The Millennium Enemies**

After that comes the next major arc in this series, **MWO3: Arcade Fortress**

So for now, thanks again for reading and please review and let me know what you think.


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